After starting the conference season 2-0, the Stetson volleyball team dropped its third consecutive Atlantic Sun match on Saturday at Belmont University. Although the Hatters battled, they lost 3-0 (13-30, 20-30, 25-30) to one of the top teams in the league.

“We came out really flat in the first game”, said Hatters Head Coach Cheryl Carlson. “We picked it up in the second game though and really fought hard. Some hitting errors cost us momentum.”

In the first game Belmont scored early and often going up 3-0, 9-2, and then 10-3. The Bruins were up to 21 points before the Hatters broke into double digits.

In the second game Stetson pulled ahead at 9-7 on a big kill by sophomore Laura Boyd. They stayed close until being down 20-17. Belmont then slowly pulled away for the 30-20 win.

In the third game Stetson showed it could play with the Bruins by fighting until the end. Stetson kept the score close and was even with Belmont as late as 19-19. The Hatters came up with four big blocks to keep the pressure on. The game went back and forth, yet the Bruins inched forward for the 30-25 win and a 3-0 match victory.

“In that third game we really started playing like Stetson again”, said Carlson. “We plan to take some of the momentum and confidence we built in that game into next week. We will practice hard all week to get ready for ETSU and USC Upstate. We will be excited to be playing at home again.”

Offensively Boyd led the way against Belmont hitting .316 with eight kills and five blocks. Senior Gina Iacona also chipped in with eight kills. Senior Karla Readshaw led the team in digs with 11 and assists with 16. As a team the Hatters had an impressive 11 total blocks in the match.

Today's loss dropped the Hatters to 7-11 overall and 2-3 in conference play. Belmont raised its mark to 14-6 overall and 4-1 in the A-Sun.