Saint Leo University Athletics

SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Saint Leo University volleyball team picked up its first Sunshine State Conference win of the season Saturday afternoon as the Lions took down visiting Florida Tech, 3-1. The Panthers won the first set in convincing fashion, 25-15, but the Lions roared back and took the final three sets including a dominating fourth set 25-15.
 
The win improves Saint Leo's overall record to 5-12 including 1-6 in SSC play while the Panthers fell to 4-10 on the year and 2-4 in league action.
 
Freshman Shelby Toney led the way Saturday for the Lions as she posted a career-high 17 kills in the victory while adding nine digs and a pair of service aces. Sophomore Alexa Gandolfo reached double-figures with 13 kills while picking up a dig and a block. Junior Emma LeTourneau had another strong day at the net with a team-high six blocks including two solo stops.
 
Freshman Jansen Warbritton dished out a team-best 23 assists while earning eight digs and four kills. Warbritton missed the end of the final set as she was sidelined due to injury but sophomore Camila Villar stepped in and handed out 10 assists while the Lions scored their final 19 points of the match. Graduate student libero Giada Solorzano had a team-best 10 digs, along with 10 assists and a pair of service aces. Junior Mia Moser had an outstanding day at the service line as she captured six service aces and eight digs.
 
Florida Tech led from the start of the opening set and never let the Lions tie or take the lead the entire period as the Panthers captured a 25-15 victory. The second set saw the Lions jump out to a 4-1 lead. The Panthers responded with a 4-0 run of their own to retake the lead at 5-4. The set continued to bounce back-and-forth with both teams taking the lead throughout the period. With the set tied at 22-22 after a Florida Tech kill, the Lions scored the final three points of the set to take a 25-22 victory. Gandolfo and Toney scored on kills before Moser closed out the set with a service ace.
 
The third set saw the Panthers jump out to a 9-6 lead before the Lions went on a 15-6 run to take a 21-15 lead late in the period. Florida Tech went on to score five of the next seven points which gave Saint Leo a 23-20 advantage. A kill by Gandolfo gave the Lions set point but the Panthers scored the next three points to make it 24-23 before another Gandolfo kill ended the set 25-23.
 
The fourth and final set was back-and-forth early, but with the score tied 8-8 the Lions began an 8-0 run to open up a 16-8 lead. Moser delivered two service aces, Toney had three kills, and Gina Stavile and LeTourneau each added a kill to the run. The next few points would go both ways until the 20-15 mark when Saint Leo went on a 5-0 run to close the match. Gandolfo picked up two kills in the run while LeTourneau had one. The other two points came off Florida Tech errors.
 
The Lions will be back in action Friday, Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. as Saint Leo travels to Embry-Riddle for another Sunshine State Conference match.