RECAP: Royals Win 3 Matches in La Tribu Invitational Hosted by Life University

MARRIETTA, Ga. - The Warner Women's Volleyball team traveled to Georgia this weekend to take part in the La Tribu Invitational hosted by Life University. The Royals had a dominant weekend on the court, winning 3 of their 4 matches on the weekend to improve to a 4-3 overall record on the season.

The Royals opened up their weekend at the La Tribu Invitational with a 3-0 sweep over Talladega College, (25-14, 25-22, 25-19). Senior Rylee Waldie led the way for the Royals on the scoreboard with 11 Kills, while Julia De Jesus added 9 kills and Siarah Bencosme and Araya Garrison recorded 8 kills each in the win over Talladega. Maricelys Rivera tallied 3 of the Royals 10 Service Aces over the Tornadoes as the Royals continue to show their strength in serving the ball early on this season. Skye McDermott recorded 15 assists while Imar Laboy was close behind with 12 assists of her own. Defensively Grace Licier led the Royals with 11 of the Royals 34 digs on Friday's opening match.

Warner's second game of the Invitational was a back-and-forth 5 set battle with Johnson University (TN), that saw the Royals down 2 sets to 1 before Warner completed their comeback to earn the 3-2 win (25-23, 22-25, 17-25, 25-15, 15-11). Bencosme had another strong all-around performance for the Royals, leading the team in both kills, (13), and digs, (14). The Royals tallied another double-digit day serving the ball, recording a team season total high of 14 service aces as Rivera and De Jesus lead the team with 5 aces each. Imar Laboy recorded a new personal season high 18 assists in the win, while Araya Garrison led the Royals at the net with 10 total blocks (2 solo, 8 assisted).

The Royals only loss of the weekend came against the Invitational hosts, Life University in a hard fought 3 sets (19-25, 16-25, 22-25). De Jesus and Garrison led the Royals offensively with 7 kills each, while De Jesus and Rivera had 2 aces each. Garrison added another 2 blocks to her season total and was tied for the most blocks in the game for the Royals with Antonia Amer. Laboy and McDermott led the Royals in assists with 13 and 10 each and Rivera tallied 6 digs in the Royals opening match on Saturday.

Warner bounced back quickly ending their weekend exactly how they started it with another 3-set sweep, this time against Florida College (25-10, 25-23, 25-13). Sophomore transfer, Bencosme found herself on the top of the scorebook with 15 kills to end her weekend with a total of 49 kills. Rivera had another strong all-around performance leading the Royals in Digs with 12 and was tied for the most service aces with De Jesus with 3. Amer recorded half of the Royals blocks with 3, while McDermott lead the Royals with a game high of 14 assists.

The Royals will look to build off their impressive 3-1 weekend as they head to Florida College for 2 games in the FC Classic on August 28th.

Match Leaders

— vs. Talladega College (AL)