Lions Ledger: Volleyball Closes Out the Home Portion of Its Schedule

Nov 09, 2021

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RECORDS: Saint Leo 11-16, 5-11 SSC | Embry-Riddle 22-4, 12-3 SSC | Rollins 7-19, 2-14 SSC
Saint Leo split its pair of matches this past weekend at home against Florida Tech and Barry. The Lions defeated the Panthers 3-1 before falling to the Buccaneers 3-1. This week's two matches mark the final two home contests of the season for the Lions with Saturday's match against Rollins serving as Senior Night for the Lions' four seniors: Payton Bellano, Anna Garrett, Ashley Quero and Brooke Turner.
Senior Brooke Turner continues to lead the team with 237 total kills for an average of 2.79 per set. Senior setter Anna Garrett is averaging 8.44 helpers per set. Senior libero Payton Bellano is inching closer to 400 digs this season with 396 and is averaging 4.21 per set, nearly double her next highest teammate. Sophomore Margaret Schirm continues to hold the top spot in blocking with 60 total stops for an average of 0.71 per set while classmate Madelyn Eden is averaging 0.70 blocks per set but has 42 total blocks due to seeing less action.
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 1,332 for her career. She needs just two 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 3,909. She still sits 1,464 behind record holder Michelle Nogueras' (2006-09) 5,373 career assists.
Embry-Riddle enters Wednesday night's match on a six-match winning streak and has not lost a conference match since Oct. 15 when the Eagles fell at home to nationally-ranked Tampa. ERAU's last road SSC loss came all the way back on Sept. 30 as the Eagles fell at nationally-ranked Nova Southeastern in five sets.
Freshman Jaden McBride is the top kill leader for the Eagles averaging 3.87 per set while sophomore Cameron Gilleland is not far behind at 3.60 per set. The pair have double the number of kills as their next highest teammates. Senior Emily Weaver runs the offense from the setter position and is averaging 9.38 assists per set. Sophomore libero Tamzen Wilson has a team-high 259 digs while junior libero Kendyl Taylor averages a team-high 3.64 digs per set. Along the net two Eagles have over 100 blocks on the season including junior Sam Lanning with 142 and senior Amelia Hartnett with 114.
HISTORY: Embry-Riddle has won four of the last six meetings between the two programs but the Lions have won two of the last three meetings. The Eagles have five total wins over the Lions since they began playing a Sunshine State Conference schedule in 2015. The most recent meeting between the two programs came back on Oct. 9 in Daytona Beach, Fla. with the Eagles winning 3-0.
Rollins has dropped three of the last four matches with the lone win in the stretch being a 3-1 victory over Florida Tech at home. The Tars have yet to win a conference match on the road this season.
Freshman Lana Gerard has a team-best 231 kills while junior Riley Spurlin is averaging a team-high 2.54 kills per set. Senior setter Rebecca Kuehn is dishing out 7.65 assists per set for the Tars while junior libero Charlie Durbin has a team-high 3.95 digs per set average. Junior Alexis Yeager and sophomore Emma Begley lead the defense at the net with 75 and 71 blocks, respectively.
HISTORY: Saint Leo has won 12-straight against the Tars with the last Rollins victory in the series coming October 23, 2015 in Winter Park. The Lions and Tars met twice in the abbreviated spring season this past March and April with Saint Leo winning at Winter Park 3-1 and at home 3-0. Saint Leo took the first meeting this season in Winter Park 3-1 with the Tars winning the opening set followed by three-straight for the Lions.

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