MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- As the tide turned, so went the flow for Buccaneer volleyball.
After Saint Leo outbattled Barry in a race-to-the-wire finish in the first set, the Bucs bounced back to take the next three to wrap up a 1-1 weekend in league play. As it stood, Barry tamed Saint Leo Saturday, winning 23-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-16 to climb back over the .500 mark.
The Bucs (12-11, 4-6 Sunshine State Conference) scored 20 of its 26 points via the putaway in the third set, hitting .324. The 20 kills followed a second-set performance in which Barry tied the match at 1-1, turning the tables on the Lions (10-11, 2-7) with an identical two-point set victory.
Barry sophomore hitter Jayla Trombley, whose punctuation putaways become more and more pronounced as she wears the red and black each day, had a kill to break a 22-22 tie in the third set. Saint Leo took the next two points to take a 24-23 lead, but Trombley responded with another kill to tie it up at 24-24. A Lions hitting error and third consecutive kill by Trombley gave the Buccaneers a 2-1 lead in the match.
Trombley finished with 14 kills, 11 digs and three aces.
Mima Hajdukovic's kill and a couple of Saint Leo attack errors vaulted the Buccaneers ahead, 19-11, in the fourth set. Laine Cielena and Kate Dooley combined for a block to keep Barry's lead at eight. Dooley slammed down a kill to push the Buccaneers ahead, 22-13, before Saint Leo's Sami Vierk started a three-point surge with a putaway to slice Barry's lead to six.
But the Buccaneers quieted the rush when Ashley Carrero set up one of Hajdukovic's eight kills, and Jasmine Serna put the finishing touches on a successful Saturday with a pair of match-ending aces.
Barry bumped its mark to 5-7 this season in four-set matches -- the most of the three varieties the Bucs have competed in throughout the season. The Buccaneers are 4-2 when deciding things in three sets, and 3-2 in five-setters.
Carrero and Tania Torres each added 12 for the Bucs. Torres hit .429. Hajdukovic had 43 assists. Cielena had eight kills and four blocks, and Dooley had five kills and four blocks. Mariana Lisboa led the Buccaneers with 15 digs, and was one of four players with two or more aces.
The Buccaneers hit .268, while the Lions had a .255 attack rate. Barry outblocked Saint Leo, 9-4, and had 10 aces to the Lions' five.
Barry plays at Rollins Friday and Florida Tech at Palm Bay High in Melbourne on Saturday.