WINTER PARK, Fla. -- The Buccaneers left Miami Shores knowing what was at stake.
Friday night, they took care of their end of things, beating host Rollins, 25-22, 23-25, 27-25, 25-20, in an important Sunshine State Conference volleyball match that could impact postseason possibilities.
Barry (13-11, 5-6 SSC) pulled even with Rollins (14-13, 5-6) in the middle of the league standings. The Bucs entered the weekend ranked ninth in the South Region poll released this week. Rollins sat ahead of Barry.
That's two feathers in the Buccaneers' cap, not to mention equalled their win total of last year with three weeks left in the season. The Buccaneers play host Florida Tech at Palm Bay High School at 4 p.m Saturday to wrap up the weekend road trip.
The Panthers also were ahead of Barry in the region poll. The top eight teams from each region throughout the country qualify for the NCAA Division II National Tournament.
With the match tied at a set apiece, Barry found itself in a 23-21 hole in the third set. But Ashley Carrero, who finished with a match-high 17 kills, used back-to-back setups from Mari Lisboa to help the Buccaneers draw even at 23-23. A pair of sideouts and a Tars hitting error pushed Barry ahead, 25-24. But the Bucs gave one back with a service error to deadlock the score again. Laine Cielena and Jayla Trombley finished off the ensuing two points with kills on a pair of Mima Hajdukovic's 42 assists.
That gave the Buccaneers a 2-1 lead.
In the final set, Barry gave itself a seven-point cushion, following two consecutive Carrero kills. Kate Dooley put away a kill of her own to give the Buccaneers a 23-16 lead. And after Rollins ran off three straight points following another one of Carrero's winners to draw within 24-20, the Bucs secured match point on a Tars attack error.
Barry won its third match in its last four contests -- all decided in four sets. The Bucs, who are 6-7 in four-set matches this season, did it by outblocking the Tars, 11-5, and using a .256 team attack percentage. Rollins hit .175, committing 30 attack errors to Barry's 20.
Trombley had nine kills, 10 digs and three blocks. Lisboa had three aces, six assists and 12 of the Bucs' 50 digs. Cielena had 13 kills and three blocks, while hitting .480. Hajdukovic had eight kills, a .700 attack percentage, two aces and seven digs. Rosie Johnston and Dooley each had three blocks, and Tania Torres had five.
Barry served 11 aces to Rollins' five.
Barry's win avenged a late September loss to Rollins at home, and marked its second conference victory away from the confines of Health & Sports Center this season.