CHARLESTON, S.C. ? The Stetson volleyball squad capped a 2-2 weekend with a 3-1 (30-21, 30-13, 25-30, 30-26) win over North Carolina Central on Saturday at the CSU Field House.
“We hit and dug well as a team,” said head coach Cheryl Carlson. “I was also pleased with our blocking, Sarah (Sears) and Laura (Boyd) had some big blocks for us.”
The Hatters (4-3) received several outstanding efforts in winning their second straight match. Rebecca Orzechowicz and Beth Slabaugh led the attack and pitched in defensively as each recorded identical double-doubles with 16 kills and 14 digs. Karla Readshaw once again did a solid job at the setter position picking up 49 assists to go along with 18 digs while Rachel Miller and Melanie Boyer solidified the back row with 15 and 14 digs, respectively. Gina Iacona loomed large in the middle notching 10 kills, three solo blocks and two block assists. Iacona notched all-tournament team honors for the Hatters.
Readshaw kick-started the Hatter offense with 12 assists in the first game and Miller ignited the defense with nine digs. Stetson took control of game one pushing its lead out to nine at the 20-11 mark, but North Carolina Central (5-4) battled back with a 4-0 run late in the match closing the gap to 24-20. Stetson responded taking six of the next seven points highlighted by a pair of Iacona kills including the game-clincher.
With the score tied at seven in game two, the Hatters went on a 9-0 run and never looked back. UNCC never got closer than eight as Stetson cruised to the win. A pair of sophomores gave the Hatters a boost when Laura Boyd and Sarah Sears teamed up for a pair of blocks and Boyd garnered a solo block as well.
A 6-0 run mid-way through game three pushed the Eagles out to an 11-7 advantage and the Hatters fought hard, but were unable to re-take the lead forcing a game four.
Stetson dropped its match Friday night against Charleston Southern after claiming the first two games and was determined not to allow that to happen again. The Hatters came out in the fourth game and put up a consistent effort led by Orzechowicz's seven kills. Readshaw picked up her fourth straight game with double-digit assists and Stetson held on to a lead the entire game that was never larger than six.
Aneille Dasilva led the UNCC attack with a match-high 19 kills and teammate Shari Matthews garnered a match-high 24 digs.
“Gina (Iacona) was awesome in the middle, Karla (Readshaw) did a great job directing the offense and Rachel (Miller) and Melanie (Boyer) were great defensively, basically it was a great team effort,” added Carlson. “I feel we have turned the corner as a team and have learned how to put teams away like we did today.”
The Hatters will return to the court Fri.-Sat., Sept. 7-8 when they host the Stetson Invitational at the Edmunds Center. Stetson will take on Oral Roberts on Friday at 7 p.m. and conclude play the following day with a 7 p.m. match-up against former conference foe Florida International.
