The Stetson volleyball team hosted Florida Gulf Coast University Saturday afternoon in Edmonds Center. Although the team battled hard throughout the Hatters dropped the match 3-0.

Seniors Beth Slabaugh and Gina Iacona led the offensive charge for the Hatters with 11 and 10 kills respectively. Junior Rebecca Orzechowicz also had 10 kills for Stetson.

Stetson started off well evening up the first game 9-9 on a Slabaugh kill down the line. FGCU started to inch ahead at that point in the game and increased its lead until it put the first game into the books 30-20.

“We played a little flat tonight”, said Hatters Head Coach Cheryl Carlson. “I know this team has just one loss on the season, yet we just came out flat”.

Stetson picked up the pace in game two and after maintaining a two or three point lead for much of the game, fell just short in the end 30-27.

In game three the Eagles opened with a 3-0 run and never let the Hatters pull even finishing at 30-21.

For the match Stetson hit .175 with 63 digs and seven blocks. Slabaugh hit .162 and had 13 digs. Senior Karla Readshaw led the team in digs with 16 and assists with 34. Orzechowicz chipped in with 15 digs. Sophomore Laura Boyd led the team in hitting at .400. She also had a solo and an assisted block.

“Laura had a nice match for us today”, said  Carlson. “Gina played well for us in the middle”.

“In the end we made more forced errors than unforced errors. We played a good team”, she added.

The loss drops the Hatters to 7-9 overall and 2-1 in conference play. FGCU is now 13-1 overall and 3-0 in the A-Sun. Stetson will return to the court next weekend when they travel to Nashville, Tennessee to take on Lipscomb University (Friday) and Belmont University (Saturday).