Fort Myers, Fla. - The Stetson volleyball team (1-17, 0-11 Atlantic Sun) won a set at defending conference regular season champion Florida Gulf Coast's Alico Arena for the first time in three road meetings, but that moral victory was all the Hatters could muster in a 25-10, 18-25, 25-15, 25-14 loss to their league rivals (10-7, 9-2 A-Sun) Tuesday evening. Freshman setter Kelli Carneal (Fredericksburg, Va.) recorded a 23-assist, 14-dig double-double, senior libero Anna Becker (McLean, Ill.) notched 14 digs and senior right side Sarah Sears (Ashburn, Va.) knocked down a team-high seven kills.
FGCU out-hit Stetson .225 to .098 and out-killed the Hatters 58-30 in the match, although Stetson enjoyed a 14-kill, .306-hitting effort in a second set victory. Senior middle blocker Laura Boyd (La Crescenta, Calif.) and sophomore outside hitter Kaylee Ream (Venice, Fla.) tallied six kills each for the Hatters; Boyd also had six blocks. The double-double was the seventh of the season for Carneal and her third in a row.
Four Eagles recorded double-doubles in the match: Emma Racila (14 kills, 13 digs), Jelena Simic (14 kills, 12 digs), Anna Wagner (12 kills, 11 digs) and Chandra Lefever (49 assists, 10 digs). Holly Youngquist recorded a match-high 24 digs while Ashley Yance put down six blocks.
Stetson returns to the Edmunds Center for a pair of A-Sun matches this weekend, hosting Jacksonville at 6 p.m. Friday and North Florida at 5 p.m. Saturday. Stetson students are especially encouraged to turn out for the JU match on Friday as the Hatter Madness fan event marking the return of another exciting season of Stetson Basketball will tip off at 9:30 p.m. following the conclusion of the volleyball match. Check back at GoHatters.com on Wednesday for more information about Hatter Madness.
