Posted: Aug 15, 2025
Flames sweep pair of matches in Florida to open season
Florida College (FL)
(0-1, 0-0)
0
College of Saint Mary (NE)
(1-0, 0-0)
3
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Florida College (FL) (0-1, 0-0) | 21 | 18 | 19 | 0 |
|
College of Saint Mary (NE) (1-0, 0-0) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — College of Saint Mary started its volleyball season in resounding fashion on Friday, sweeping Florida College 25-21, 25-18, 25-19, before blowing out Florida Memorial 25-22, 25-12, 25-14 on the first day of the Palm Beach Juniors Classic at the Student Life Center on the campus of Keiser University.
"A really good first day for us,'' CSM Coach Rick Pruett said. "I thought we really played with energy and played as a team. We had some unforced errors in the first match of the year, but I thought we did some great things in all phases of the game, from serve to passing to defense/blocking to attacking.''
In the opener against Florida College, which finished 21-9 last season, CSM's attack improved as the match wore on. The Flames hit .062 in the opener, improved to .200 in the second set, then smashed 15 kills in 32 attempts with only two errors for a robust .406 hitting efficiency in the third.
In her first match as a Flame, junior Caylin Barnett led the team in kills (12) and digs (14), hitting .182. Junior Azaria Green swatted 11 kills in just 19 attempts with no errors for a sizzling .579 hitting efficiency. She added a solo block and four block assists.
"Azaria had a great day and showed why she is an All-American,'' Pruett said.
Kennedy Buck handed out 19 assists and Kaitlyn Busby added 15, while Elen Pruett notched 10 digs and Krissy Radicia pitched in eight.
In the second match, CSM survived a sluggish opening set and cruised from there. In the opener, Florida Memorial scored two straight to even things at 21-all. After a Flames timeout, the Lions made an error, then Green delivered a kill followed by another Lions error. Two points later, Green ended the set with a kill off a Busby assist.
Barnett led the Flames again with 14 kills and Green contributed 10. Radicia had 13 digs to lead the defense, and Buck (20 assists) and Busby (17) ran the offense smoothly.
"Our setters did a great job distributing the ball and our passing was really good,'' Coach Pruett said. "Really proud of our effort and chemistry today!''
CSM (2-0) returns to action in the same tournament Saturday, meeting WVU Tech (11-18 in 2024) in a 1 p.m. Central Daylight Time scheduled start, and Saint Francis of Indiana (11-19) with a 3 p.m. CDT scheduled first serve.