CLEVELAND, Ga. — Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College women's volleyball captured the Lady Bear Labor Day Invitational championship Saturday, sweeping three opponents and extending its program-record start to 20-0.
The Pomeroys defeated Rust College, Brenau University and host Truett McConnell University without dropping a set. SMWC closed the tournament with a commanding 25-17, 25-11, 25-5 victory over Truett McConnell in the championship match at the Harris Athletic Complex.
SMWC hit .254 in the final while holding the Bears to a minus-.130 attacking percentage. The Pomeroys finished with 13 service aces, 34 digs and six blocks.
Karla Melendez Martinez led SMWC with seven kills.
Masa Pesic recorded six kills without an error on 12 attacks for a .500 hitting percentage, while
Sofia Soto added five kills, hit .571 and contributed five blocks.
Leishmarie Virella collected a team-high 10 digs.
Lily Richards finished with 10 assists and seven digs, while Ariana Cruz Gonzalez recorded nine assists and a match-high six service aces.
Alexa Stiff added three aces.
The Pomeroys opened Saturday's championship bracket with a 25-14, 25-13, 25-15 quarterfinal victory over Rust. SMWC produced 42 kills and a .310 hitting percentage while limiting Rust to 10 kills and a minus-.070 percentage.
Raimey Owens powered the attack with 13 kills, a .500 hitting percentage and four aces. She also contributed six digs and three assists.
Sydni Gardner finished with eight kills and hit .417, while
Alexa Orozco added nine kills and nine digs.
Marianna Ayala-Ortiz directed the offense with 27 assists and added two aces.
Selena Sosa led the back row with 16 digs and served three aces.
SMWC advanced to the title match by defeating Brenau 25-22, 26-20, 32-30 in the semifinal. The Pomeroys fought through a tightly contested third set, scoring the final two points after the teams were tied at 30.
Pesic led SMWC with 10 kills and a .286 hitting percentage.
Ryan Canter added six kills and four blocks, while Soto finished with five kills and four blocks.
Natalie Knigga also recorded five kills without an attacking error.
Richards distributed 16 assists and Cruz Gonzalez added 14.
Gaby Fernandez anchored the defense with 13 digs, while Virella contributed nine digs and two aces. SMWC finished the match with 50 digs, nine aces and seven blocks.
Across Saturday's three victories, the Pomeroys totaled 106 kills, 32 service aces, 126 digs and 19 blocks. They hit .229 while limiting their opponents to a combined minus-.025 attacking percentage.
Pesic led SMWC with 16 kills during the three-match championship run. Owens followed with 13 kills, while Melendez Martinez recorded 12 kills and 11 digs. Richards, Cruz Gonzalez and Ayala-Ortiz combined for 76 assists as the Pomeroys utilized their depth throughout the bracket.
The three victories completed a perfect weekend in Cleveland and pushed SMWC's historic unbeaten start to 20 consecutive matches. The Pomeroys will host Rio Grande (Ohio) in the River States Conference opener on Friday, September 11 at 6 pm (ET) for the annual White Out game inside the Knoerle Center.
