Saint Leo University Athletics

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The Saint Leo University volleyball team opened up action at the Flagler Saints Invitational Friday with a pair of matches. In the opening match, it was a battle between mother and daughters as Head Coach Abby Keim and junior libero Mia Moser faced off against their mother, Maryville Head Coach Gretchen Moser. It was a back-and-forth match but the Saints were able to hold off the Lions 3-1. In the nightcap, the Lions took on another Saints team, the hosts of the tournament Flagler. The home team jumped out quick and took a decisive 3-0 victory.
 
Freshman Reagan Lyerla led the Lions in the opening match with 11 kills, 14 digs, a service ace and a block. It marked the first double-double of her young career. Sophomore Alexa Gandolfo and junior Mina Kostic tied for second on the team with seven kills each. Gandolfo added three digs and a pair of blocks while Kostic had one block and one dig.
 
Freshman Jansen Warbritton dished out a career-best 26 assists while collecting 10 digs and a pair of service aces. It also marked the first double-double of her young career. Moser led the backline with 22 digs while picking up six assists and an ace. Freshman Shelby Toney, senior Sabrina Valentin and graduate student Giada Solorzano joined Moser, Lyerla and Warbritton with double-digit digs as all three finished with 10.
 
The Saints used a 7-0 run midway through the opening set to pull away but the Lions clawed back and cut the deficit to 20-19 late. The Saints responded with five straight points to claim the opening set 25-19. The second set saw the Saints pull away early before having to hold off a surging Lions team. Maryville took the second set 25-20 and held a 2-0 lead heading into the third.
 
The third set looked to be similar to the first two but the Lions found a late surge which put them over the top. Trailing 20-19, Saint Leo went on a 6-3 run including opening the surge 4-0. Lyerla capped the opening 4-0 run with a kill and then three points later she secured another kill to put the Lions ahead 24-22. After Maryville scored another point, Lyerla once again found the mark to close out the set 25-23. The fourth and what turned out to be the final set looked to be the Lions best of the day as Saint Leo opened with a 12-2 run and looked to be in total control. The Saints responded with a 9-2 run of their own to cut the lead to 14-11. A few points later, the Lions pushed their lead to 19-13 and were on the way to forcing a fifth set. The Saints went on an 11-1 run to force the first match point of the night at 24-20. An attack error gave the Lions one more point but the Saints closed out the match with a kill at 25-21.
 
Lyerla and Toney led the way in the match against Flagler as they each finished with 12 kills. Lyerla added seven digs while Toney had eight. Warbritton handed out a new career-best 31 assists while also securing another career-high in digs with 17 for her second double-double of the day. Moser added 11 digs and a service ace.
 
The Saints took the opening two sets 25-20 and 25-12 before a tightly contested third set. Flagler led late in the third 23-19 and looked on the verge of a victory but four-straight from the Lions made things interesting. Lyerla delivered a kill followed by back-to-back kills from Toney. The final point of the run came on a Saints attack error. Flagler forced the first match point of the night with a kill on the next point to make it 24-23. A huge block delivered by juniors Emma LeTourneau and Gina Stavile tied the set at 24-24. Another Flagler kill forced the second match point at 25-24. Stavile delivered a kill to tie the set at 25-25. Back-to-back kills by the Saints ended the match at 27-25.
 
The Lions will be back in action tomorrow with two more matches at the Flagler Saints Invitational.