Johnson City, Tenn. ? The Stetson volleyball team (3-18, 1-13 Atlantic Sun) came out on the wrong end of a hard-fought four-set match at conference rival ETSU on Saturday, falling 29-27, 25-23, 14-25, 25-16. Senior outside hitter Rebecca Orzechowicz (Miami, Fla.) paced the Hatters with 13 kills.
Stetson could not take advantage of a rally late in the first set in which they came back from a 24-21 deficit and served for the set twice, eventually falling 29-27. In the second stanza, the Hatters let leads of 19-16 and 22-20 slip away in a 25-23 defeat.
After the intermission, the third set went in favor of Stetson from the outset. Freshman outside hitter Kaylee Ream (Venice, Fla.) served six straight points, including two aces, to lead off and the Hatters were never threatened, punctuating the set win with a 7-1 run. However, when an early fourth set lead went by the wayside, Stetson could not catch up again as the Lady Bucs (8-14, 5-9 A-Sun) closed the match on a 13-6 scoring streak.
Orzechowicz added six digs to go along with her 13 kills and left herself poised for a major milestone in Stetson's next match. With 999 career digs, she needs just one more to become the fifth player in program history to reach the 1,000 mark in kills and digs.
Junior college transfer Anna Becker (McLean, Ill.) led the Hatters with 13 digs while senior libero Melanie Boyer (New Holland, Ill.) added 11. Freshman setter Jennica Hagberg (Niceville, Fla.) notched 23 assists.
Whitney Cogburn pulled off an impressive triple-double to lead ETSU as she tallied 18 assists, 15 digs and 13 kills in the match. Desiree Dyck contributed 16 kills and Kelley Coker had a team-high 25 assists.
The Hatters return home for three matches this week, starting with a Tuesday non-conference tilt with Volusia County rival Bethune-Cookman at the Edmunds Center at 7 p.m. Fans that bring a minimum of three canned goods to the match to donate to the St. Peter's Church Food Drive will receive a free drink or popcorn along with a combo meal coupon from Chick-Fil-A while supplies last.
Live stats and Bill Topping's Hatter Vision webcast will be available for Tuesday's match at www.GoHatters.com, the official online home of Stetson Athletics.
