Volleyball Season Comes to a Close After Postseason Loss to Warner

Sunday, November 13, 2011
by Eddie Anderson

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Christianne Ludwick had nine kills in Ave Maria's final game of the 2011 season.

On Friday, November 11th, the Lady Gyrene volleyball team made their first postseason appearance after earning a seed in the six-team Sun Conference Tournament. They squared off against Warner University in the opening round, a team they beat in their first meeting with them during the regular season, but fell 3-0 to them at the conference tournament.

The Lady Royals used sets of 25-11, 25-18, and 25-19 to send Ave Maria home early from Miami, Florida. The Gyrenes ended their season at 12-19 overall and 5-7 within The Sun Conference.

First Team All-Sun Conference performer, Megan Arago, had 22 set assists versus Warner with four kills and two digs. Hayley Wonka came up with a game-leading 19 digs in addition to two kills and a service ace. Raquel Laing and Lilla Lukacs tallied nine and eight digs respectively, and Ashley Voudrie finished with five kills.

Christianne Ludwick and Savannah Stona totaled seven kills each to lead Ave Maria, but it was not enough as the Lady Royals were led by Symone Carter's 13 kills, and nine kill efforts by Jenni Cook and Kimberlee Thomas. Warner was sound throughout offensively, compiling a .347 attack percentage versus a .039 percentage for the Lady Gyrenes. It was a tough way for Ave Maria to finish the year, but this season was a giant leap forward for the Ave Maria volleyball program as it looks to continue making strides within the competitive Sun Conference.

Aside from the team's on court accomplishments, the Lady Gyrenes had three players named to the conference's All-Academic team, which is no easy task considering the demanding curriculum of Ave Maria University. Lilla Lukacs, Megan Arago, and Marian deTar all received the honor. Lukacs earned the distinguishment of being one of only six student-athletes representing the conference with a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

First year head coach John Leonard and the Lady Gyrenes can hold their heads high as they look to build on this season's successes for next season.

~ GO LADY GYRENES ~