MEMPHIS, Tenn. ? The Stetson volleyball team was defeated by a tough Memphis squad, 3-0 (30-23, 30-20, 30-19), on Friday at Elma Roane Fieldhouse.

Stetson has had good success when out-hitting its opponents entering the match with a record of 4-1 in those contests.  Unfortunately for the Hatters they were out-hit, .374 to .074.  Shelby Burton sparked the Tigers with seven kills and a perfect 1.000 attack percentage in game one and picked up seven more kills on eight attacks in the second game while teammate Sarah Bury poured in nine kills in the final set.

Stetson (5-6) played right with Memphis for the first half of game one, but a 6-0 run ignited the Tigers to the win.  The Hatters closed to within two at 22-20, but the tournament hosts grabbed eight of the final 11 points. 

In game two, the Tigers (9-4) used an early 5-0 run to take control and jumped out to a seven-point advantage at the 17-10 mark.  The Hatters hung tough pulling to within four, but the Conference USA members were too much closing out the game with a 9-3 run.

The final game was more of the same as Memphis was consistent in its attack and took advantage of Stetson's miscues in putting away the Hatters.    

Stetson was led by Gina Iacona's seven kills, one block assist and one solo block.  Rebecca Orzechowicz garnered four kills with a team-high seven digs.  Karla Readshaw directed the offense with 22 assists and Laura Boyd notched four kills without committing an error.

Leading the way for Memphis was Burton who recorded a match-high 18 kills with an amazing .810 attack percentage while pitching in two block assists and one solo block.  Christine Bach registered a match-high 18 digs and Laura Cote picked up 51 assists.

The Hatters will return to the court on Saturday, Sept. 15 for day two of the Tiger Invitational.  Stetson will face Arkansas State at 12:30 p.m. and conclude play with a 5:30 p.m. match against UAB.