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Lions Win First Regional Contest

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By BART O'CONNELL

Tribune correspondent

Published: November 22, 2008

TAMPA - After losing 60 consecutive volleyball matches to Florida Southern, Saint Leo has finally put together a win streak against the Mocs.

But the more important number - 1 - reflects how many wins in the NCAA Regional Tournament the program has after Thursday.

The seventh-seeded Lions (29-10) rallied from a 7-1 fifth-set deficit to close out No. 2-seed Florida Southern's season 20-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-16, 15-13 in the opening round of the national tournament at the University of Tampa's Bob Martinez Sports Center. The win set up a match against fifth-seeded Nova Southeastern on Friday, which was not complete by press time.

The match was not as tense as the 3-2 thriller Nov. 12 at the Bowman Center, where Saint Leo thwarted off several match points. But the fifth-set comeback was no less thrilling.

The rally was started by several Lions' blocks, which spurred a 6-1 run to pull within a point at 9-8. The Mocs notched back-to-back points to make it 11-8, before SLU's Chelsea Armer had a kill, followed by a service ace, to pull within one again. Jenna Jordan tied it with another kill, and later, blocks by Kaitlin McKenna and Michelle Nogueras gave the Lions their first lead in the fifth set at 13-12.

McKenna got the Lions' final two kills, including the match winner, to finish with a team-high 15 on the afternoon. Armer had 14 kills and 17 digs, while Nogueras had 43 assists, 10 digs and a .556 attack percentage.
Saint Leo had won their last three matches - all going to a fifth set - entering Friday's late contest.

HOOPS START STRONG: The Lions' men's and women's basketball teams won their season openers and are looking forward to a busy weekend at the Bowman Center.

The men's team (1-0) defeated Puerto Rico-Cayey 89-72 on Wednesday. Forward Jordan Prais had 27 points on 10 of 11 shooting, while new forward Josue Vazquez made a resounding debut with 17 points and six rebounds.

The Lions played Puerto Rico-Bayamon on Friday in a game not complete by press time, and are scheduled to play Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras today at 4 p.m. in the Bowman Center.

The women's team (3-0) beat Alabama-Huntsville 71-58 and Ave Maria 101-54 at the 2008 Sleep Inn Classic at the Bowman Center, before beating PR-Cayey 92-42. Dominique Daniels is leading the team at 11 points per game.

Like the men, they played PR-Bayamon on Friday, and play PR-Rio Piedras today at 2 p.m. on campus.

Bart O'Connell can be reached at boconnell@pop.

tampatrib.com.

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