AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University volleyball team could not finish off a comeback Saturday afternoon, falling in five sets to the Mighty Banyans of New College of Florida at the Tom Golisano Field House. Trailing two sets to one, the Gyrenes won a dramatic fourth set, but could not continue the momentum into the fifth.
The Gyrenes were their own worst enemy in the first set, with 11 of New College’s 25 points coming on AMU attack errors. The Mighty Banyans logged six of the afternoon’s first eight points, with four coming on AMU errors, and never looked back in a 25-15 set victory. Ave Maria’s only lead in the set was 2-1, after which New College logged five consecutive points.
Ave Maria played a much cleaner second set, making only two attack errors to even the match at one set apiece. The set victory came in come-from-behind fashion, as New College held a 22-20 lead. The Gyrenes won three of the next four points to tie the set at 23, then took the lead on a kill from Lucy Hudson and finished it off with a kill from Beatriz Rissi…