Tallahassee, Fla. ? Senior outside hitter Rebecca Orzechowicz (Miami, Fla.) earned All-Tournament honors at the FSU Invitational Saturday night after the Hatters (0-3) concluded play with a 2-25, 24-26, 12-25 loss to host Florida State. Junior right side Sarah Sears (Ashburn, Va.) led Stetson with six kills while freshman outside hitter Kaylee Ream (Venice, Fla.) came up with nine digs.
After getting steamrolled by the taller, hard-hitting FSU lineup in Set 1, the Hatters regrouped with a valiant effort in the second set. Freshman middle blocker Sam Stonish (Stony Brook, N.Y.) served two aces in a 5-0 run that led Stetson to go ahead by as many as six points later in the set. Although Florida State tied it up at 22, Stetson still had a chance to win when an Orzechowicz kill and a ball-handling error put it one point from victory. The Seminoles would not let that happen, however, scoring four straight to win the set 26-24. They got out to an 11-4 lead in the third set and never let the Hatters into contention, running away to win 25-12.
“I thought we did a lot of good things tonight against what I believe to be the best team we will play all year,” Stetson Head Coach Cheryl Carlson said. “Florida State is big, strong and runs a very quick offense but our kids reacted very well. We got a lot of great experience in this match.”
Freshman setter Jennica Hagberg (Niceville, Fla.) came up with 19 assists and seven digs while junior Anna Becker (McLean, Ill.) had seven digs as well. Junior middle blocker Laura Boyd (La Crescenta, Calif.) had a strong match, hitting .500 with five kills and just one error. Orzechowicz made an All-Tournament team for the third time in the last two seasons and recorded her 900th career kill in the match.
Lauren Richardson led FSU with 11 kills and nine digs while setter Nikki Baker tallied a double-double, putting up 34 assists and 10 digs. Jordana Price had eight kills and no errors in 10 attempts (.800 hitting percentage) and earned tournament MVP honors.
The Hatters will host the Holiday Inn Invitational this Friday and Saturday at the Edmunds Center. The field includes reigning Southern Conference champions College of Charleston along with Nicholls State, Robert Morris and The Citadel. Fans can watch all the action online through Hatter Vision as well as follow live stats on GameWatcher, all available through www.GoHatters.com, the official online home of Stetson Athletics.
