Lions Ledger: Volleyball Hosts Two Home Matches; Swimming Hits the Road

Nov 03, 2021

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RECORDS: Saint Leo 10-15, 4-10 SSC | Florida Tech 4-21, 2-12 SSC | Barry 12-10, 5-10 SSC
Saint Leo picked up a 3-0 sweep at home against Eckerd in its last outing. The sweep avenged an earlier 3-0 loss in St. Petersburg. The Lions will be looking to avenge another loss this Firday versus Florida Tech as they fell 3-1 earlier this year in Melbourne. The Lions were able to defeat Barry earlier this season 3-1 on the Buccaneers home court and will look to go 2-0 versus the Bucs this Saturday.
Senior Brooke Turner, who led the Lions with 12 kills versus Eckerd, continues to lead the team with 221 total kills for an average of 2.83 per set. Senior setter Anna Garrett handed out over 30 assists in the three-set victory over the Tritons and is averaging 8.30 helpers per set. Senior libero Payton Bellano is inching closer to 400 digs this season and is averaging 4.16 per set, nearly double her next highest teammate. Sophomore Madelyn Eden is giving her classmate Margaret Schirm a run for the top spot in blocks with Eden sitting at 42 on the season, just behind Schirm's 52. Eden has appeared in fewer sets and is averaging a team-best 0.71 blocks per set.
Bellano and Garrett continue to inch up the career charts at Saint Leo. Bellano recently moved into fifth all-time at Saint Leo in career digs and now sits at 1,294 for her career. She needs just 40 more digs to move into a tie for fourth all-time with Christiana Florea (1999-02). Garrett has secured the second spot all-time in assists at Saint Leo with 3,831. She still sits 1,542 behind record holder Michelle Nogueras' (2006-09) 5,373 career assists.
Florida Tech has dropped three-straight heading into Friday's match-up including a 3-1 loss at Rollins Tuesday night. The Panthers 3-1 defeat of Saint Leo earlier this season was just their second win of the year and marks their most recent conference win which happened all the way back on Oct. 2.
Redshirt sophomore Katie Erdmann is the go-to offensive option for the Panthers as she is averaging a team-best 3.66 kills per set. Her next highest teammate is averaging 2.24 kills per set. Seniors Anna Harry and Maddalena Fairchild have been splitting the setting duties with Harry leading the way at 6.63 assists per set but she has not appeared in a match since Oct. 16. Graduate student Erin Arbour has been holding down the backline for the Panthers and is averaging 4.79 digs per set to rank third in the SSC. Freshman Lilian Muszynski and junior Kayla Mastin have been the forces up front with Muszynski averaging a team-best 0.89 blocks per set followed by Mastin's 0.79 per set.
HISTORY: The Panthers win in Melbourne earlier this season over the Lions snapped a 15-match win streak in the series for Saint Leo. The last loss by the Lions in the series prior to the Oct. 2 meeting came back on Oct. 5, 2012 in Melbourne, a 3-2 setback, which snapped another double-digit Lions' win streak in the series.
Barry has dropped four-straight matches heading into this weekend and will meet Eckerd in St. Petersburg Friday night before travelling up to Saint Leo. The Buccaneers went a perfect 3-0 at the South Region Crossover which marked their last three wins but their last SSC victory came on Oct. 12 at home over Florida Tech. Their last road SSC victory happened all the way back on Sept. 25 at Florida Southern, a 3-1 decision.
Junior Djuly Schmorantz leads the offense for Barry with 3.81 kills per set. Junior Bianca Pasca has been running the offense from the setter position and is averaging 8.54 assists per set. Junior Monica Lopez has been holding down the backline with an average of 4.68 digs per set to rank fourth in the SSC. Senior Yileen Ng He is the leader upfront with 59 total blocks for an average of 0.79 per set.
HISTORY: Barry has a 49-18 lead in the all-time series with the Lions including winning 37 of the first 38 meetings between the two squads. The series has swung the other direction since 2006 as the Lions hold a 17-13 mark during that time frame.

RECORDS: Saint Leo (M) 1-2 | #22 Saint Leo (W) 2-1 | Rollins (M) 0-3 | #18 Rollins (W) 0-3
Saint Leo most recently competed in a tri-meet with both Florida Tech and Lynn. The men defeated Lynn 137-125 and fell by just three points to #19 Florida Tech 131-128. The #22 women fell to #15 Lynn 138-123 and defeated Florida Tech 152-108.
Sophomore Carlos Nava led the men as he produced the Lions first NCAA "B" qualifying standard of the season as he won the 100 breaststroke in 55.40, swimming under the standard time of 55.56. Nava also earned a win in the 200 breaststroke as he topped the field in 2:04.46. The Miami, Fla. native was also part of the winning 400 freestyle relay and the second place 200 medley relay. Nava went on to be named the Sunshine State Conference Swimmer of the Week for his performance.
Another notable performance for the men came from senior Hampus Lovinge who had an outstanding meet bringing home three individual victories while also swimming on the second place 200 medley relay. The Norrkoping, Sweden native won the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley. He touched the wall in 51.34 in the 100 back before claiming a win in the 200 back with a time of 1:53.39. He outpaced the field in the individual medley after completing the distance in 1:54.31.
Sophomore Isabelle Sering once again led the Lions as she brought home a pair of individual event victories and was also part of the winning 400 freestyle relay. She also picked up a second place finish in the 100 freestyle. The Trelleborg, Sweden native took home wins in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly. She topped the field in the 50 free with a time of 24.58 while taking home the 100 fly title in 57.08. Sering clocked in at 53.16 in the 100 free to take her lone second place finish.
Rollins has yet to win a swim meet this season as both the men's and women's programs have fell against Florida Southern, Tampa and Nova Southeastern, some of the top programs among the SSC. They also opened the season at the University of North Florida for an invitational meet.
The Tars men are led by Ward Lockhart who swam a 1:41.16 200 freestyle ranking second in the Sunshine State Conference this season. Lockhart is also ranked runner-up in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:35.11. Connor Xu ranks fifth in the 200 breaststroke in 2:08.62. Teammate Tully Njoroge is seventh in the 100 IM with a time of 55.38.
For the women, Beatriz Olivieri is ranked top five in four events. In the 100 freestyle she is ranked fourth with a time of 53.28. She is fourth in the 200 freestyle at 57.15. In the 200 butterfly, Olivieri is ranked fourth with a time of 1:55.11. Olivieri is ranked third in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:05.56. Anna Van Zyverden is third place in the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.38. Jill Hughes ranked top five in the 500 freestyle (5:10.28.) and 1000 freestyle (10.35.06). Abigayle Wood ranks eighth in the SSC for her top time in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:06.81. Wood is also ranked eighth in the 200 breaststroke in 2:25.50.

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