SAINT LEO, FLA. – The Saint Leo University volleyball team split its pair of matches on the first day of the 2024 Lions Volleyball Fall Tournament. The Lions dropped their home opener against St. Edward's 3-0 but earned a split on the day with a 3-0 win over Saint Michael's to end the night. Saint Leo moves to 3-2 on the season.
 
ST. EDWARD'S 3, SAINT LEO 0
The Lions match up against St. Edwards saw seven lead changes in the first set as Saint Leo rallied from as many as a three-point deficit to seeing a multi-point lead turn into a deficit. Paula Perez Rosales and (10), and Oliwia Durka (7) combined for 17 of Saint Leo's 29 kills in the game. Tajma Muharemovic and Perez Rosales each tallied double-digit digs.

The Lions maintained a lead late into the final set before needing extra points to decide the set and ultimately the match. Madison Moore tied the set at 25-25 with a monster kill and thanks to a bad set by SEU, Saint Leo took a 26-25 lead. Back-to-back attack errors by the Green & Gold allowed their opponent to take its final lead of the set and the match. The Hilltoppers sealed the victory with a kill that saw the Lions send the ball into the wall behind them for a 3-0 match victory.

SAINT LEO 3, SAINT MICHAEL'S 0
The second match of the day saw Saint Leo come out victorious thanks to a .155 hitting % in the match including a .323 % in the first set. For a second straight match, Perez Rosales (11) led the Lions in kills. Muharemovic and Anyaliz Rodriguez led the team with 11 digs each. Down 14-13 in the first set, the Lions used a 7-0 run to take a 20-14 advantage in route to claiming the first set. Set two featured quite a few runs for both teams as Saint Michael's opened the set with a 4-0 run and then extended it lead to 10-7 as the Lions began to claw their way back eventually taking an 11-10 lead. The two teams traded 3-0 runs as the Lions regained their lead. Tied at 14-14, Saint Leo benefited from a pair of attack errors and a kill by Rodriguez to take its final lead of the set finishing with a 25-22 set two victory.

The third set between Saint Leo and Saint Michael's saw the teams battle to a 10-10 tie. The Lions used an 8-0 run to take control of the final set pulling off a 25-15 win to clinch the set and match point for a 3-0 victory.

UP NEXT
Day two of the Lions Volleyball Fall Tournament has Saint Leo taking on UVA – Wise (1 p.m.) and closing out the weekend with an evening match up against Valdosta State (6:30 p.m.).