Boca Raton, Fla. - The Stetson volleyball team (1-15) got off to a hot start in its non-conference match at Florida Atlantic Tuesday evening, hitting .333 with 13 kills in the first set en route to a 25-19 win, but ultimately could not keep the good times rolling in a 19-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-14 loss to the Owls (10-8) at FAU Arena. Freshman middle blocker Ellen Hawks (Austin, Texas) tallied a career-high nine kills.
Stetson recorded 13 kills with just one attack error in the first set for a .333 attack percentage, but saw that number drop to .033, .056 and finally -.129 in the last three sets, finishing at .083 for the match. Sophomore setter Kelli Carneal (Fredericksburg, Va.) recorded 24 assists, nine digs, four kills and two service aces for the Hatters. Freshman outside hitter Kaley Melville (New Germany, Minn.) and sophomore libero Monique Russell led the defensive effort with 10 digs apiece.
Georgia Robinson paced FAU to the win with 15 kills while Kristyna Dzmuranova nearly notched a triple double with 10 kills, 11 digs, eight blocks and four service aces. Anne Vaughan (10 kills), Joanne Marras Tate (40 assists, 15 digs) and Nicole Gerig (15 digs) also had big evenings for the Owls.
The Hatters return to Atlantic Sun Conference action this weekend when they visit North Florida at 7 pm Friday and Jacksonville at 3 pm Saturday. Fans can watch the matches on A-Sun.TV and get updates from the official Twitter account of Stetson Athletics, @StetsonSID (twitter.com/stetsonsid).
