WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Saint Leo volleyball team closed out the regular season on a three-match winning streak after taking down the Tars of Rollins College 3-1 Thursday night in Winter Park. The Lions and Tars went toe-to-toe over the opening two sets but it was all Lions in sets three and four as Saint Leo looks to earn a bid to the 2019 NCAA South Regional.
 
The victory earns head coach Jason Skoch his 21^st win of the season, marking just the second coach in program history to lead the team to 21 or more victories and the first since 2017 when the Lions went 23-7. Saint Leo closes out the regular season with a 21-10 mark including 12-8 in Sunshine State Conference play. Rollins fell to 8-22 and 3-16 in league action.
 
Junior Ashley Quero led the Lions with 15 kills, five digs and four blocks including two solo. Senior Anilise Fitzi chipped in 12 kills on just 20 swings while posting a .550 hitting percentage. The Walton, New Zealand native added a pair of service aces and three blocks to the effort.
 
Seniors Victoria Omoregie and Nina Vattovaz each added seven kills to the mix. Omoregie also had a pair of blocks while Vattovaz added six digs.
 
Redshirt junior setter Anna Garrett handed out 37 assists while digging up 12 balls as well. Sophomore libero Payton Bellano led the team with 13 digs while also adding a service ace. The only other Lion in double-figures was freshman Skylar Singleton who had 10 digs to go along with a pair of service aces.
 
The Lions hit .215 as a team while holding the Tars to a .115 percentage.
 
The opening set was back-and-forth early but Rollins opened up a 20-14 lead midway through the period. That sparked a 9-2 run by the Lions that featured six attack errors by the Tars. Despite the run, Rollins earned two-straight points to force the first set point of the match at 24-23. A kill by Fitzi tied the set at 24 before another Rollins attack error gave the Lions their first set point of the night, 25-24. A ball handling error on the Tars ended the set 26-24 in favor of the Lions.
 
The second set saw the Tars jump out to several small leads but the Lions kept reeling them in. Up by one midway through the set, the Tars used a 6-1 run to open things up. Saint Leo would get to within three points several times down the stretch but Rollins hung on for a 25-20 victory.
 
Rollins led 9-5 early in the third set but the Lions blew things open with an 8-1 run and never looked back. The Lions would go on a 12-1 run to close the set as well taking No. 3 25-13. The fourth set picked up where the third ended as the Lions opened the period on a 7-1 run. The set would never get close as the Lions cruised to a 25-14 match clinching victory.  
 
Saint Leo will now hit the practice gym in preparation to Monday night's announcement of the 2019 NCAA Championship Tournament field. The announcement will stream live on NCAA.com at 7:30 p.m. The Lions are hoping to be one of the eight teams invited to the NCAA South Regional. The Lions have made six-straight trips to the regional and 10 total over the history of the program.  
 
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