SARASOTA, Fla. - No. 5 NCF Beach Volleyball moved into sole possession of first-place in the Sun Conference Friday by earning a 4-1 victory over No. 7 Ave Maria at Banyan Beach.
With the win, the Mighty Banyans improved to 8-1 overall and 8-0 in Sun Conference play, Ave Maria suffered its first loss of the season and conference slate.
New College opened the battle for first-place with a win at the No. 5 position as
Maria Luiza Barreis and
Camilla Vaerini defeated Maylis DeTar and Abbey Grose in straight sets, 21-12, 21-16.
The Banyans then picked up another point at No. 2 where
Kayla Gentry and
Jayden Ponsford earned a 21-9, 22-20 victory over Adrianna Bravo and Ava Winkler.
Ave Maria responded with its lone point at No. 4 as Beatriz Rissi and Maria Teixeira defeated
Sibelle Dias and
Alba Romanos Gracia in three sets.
The Mighty Banyans answered with a win at No. 1 where
Oliva Fenstermaker and
Cassidy Casey secured a 22-20, 21-16 victory over Ryan Getz and Ines Lopes to clinch the victory while at No. 3
Jayleen Santiago and
Morgan McGuire earned a three-set win over Greta Heiney and Elle Malczewski, 19-21, 21-17, 18-16 to give the Mighty Banyans a fourth point on the day.
NCF will return to action when it takes on Webber and Warner in Lake Wales next Saturday. If the Mighty win both matches, it will win the Sun Conference regular season title outright. If it goes 1-1 and Ave Maria can go 2-0 in its March 28 matches with St. Thomas and Florida Memorial, NCF and Ave will share the regular season title.
