Tallahassee, Fla. ? Senior outside hitter Rebecca Orzechowicz (Miami, Fla.) tallied eight kills and hit over .300 for the match but it wasn't enough as the Stetson volleyball team (0-1) lost to Bowling Green three sets to none in the season opener for both teams at the FSU Invitational on Friday; game scores were 14-25, 22-25, 11-25.  Freshman setter Jennica Hagberg (Niceville, Fla.) had 19 assists and six digs in her college debut.

Stetson led the Falcons, a 21-match winner last season, 6-5 early in Set 1 and was within 14-12 midway through before BGSU rolled off nine straight points to seize control.  The Hatters also got out to a good start in the second set, leading 5-3 before an 8-1 Bowling Green run gave the Falcons a lead they would not relinquish.  Stetson would not go quietly, however, rallying to within one point on several different occasions, but was not quite able to knot the score.  A kill by sophomore outside hitter Stephanie Canfield (Panama City, Fla.) made it 23-22 late but Bowling Green scored the next two points to take the win.

Bowling Green used several different runs of three and four consecutive points to run away with the third set.  Stetson had five players participating in their first career Division I matches, utilizing three freshmen and junior college transfer Anna Becker (McLean, Ill.) in its starting lineup.  They handled themselves admirably as the Hatters were not whistled for a blocking error or a ball-handling error in the entire match.

“I knew coming in that we were going to have to throw our newcomers into the fire right away, and overall I thought they did a strong job,” Head Coach Cheryl Carlson said.  “Jennica looked good in her first time out and Rebecca helped us out with a great hitting effort as well.  We'll learn from this and get better.”

Orzechowicz racked up eight kills and just one error in 23 swings (.304 hitting percentage) to lead the Hatters.  Becker and senior libero Melanie Boyer (New Holland, Ill.) led Stetson with seven digs each while junior middle blocker Laura Boyd (La Crescenta, Calif.) added five kills.

Megan Mohr had nine kills and hit .444 while Kendra Halm (.462) and Shari Luther collected eight kills each for Bowling Green.  Setter Sam Fish notched 36 assists while Chelsey Meek came up with 13 digs.