The Stetson volleyball team was dominant from start to finish Friday with a pair of 3-0 victories in the first day of the Stetson Westin Classic at the Edmunds Center.

The Hatters (3-3) defeated Savannah State (0-4) 25-16, 25-12, 25-11 in the afternoon before claiming a 25-16, 25-10, 25-13 triumph over Bethune-Cookman (0-4) in the nightcap.

"I was really pleased with our performances in both matches," Stetson head coach Tim Loesch said.  "What I liked about our offense today was not just that we got a lot of kills, but we managed out of system balls and troubled plays to where we weren't making errors and still putting pressure on the other team."

Senior Kaley Melville led the Hatters with 23 kills on the day, including 14 kills and a career-best .462 attack pct. vs. Savannah State.  She added nine kills and three blocks vs. Bethune-Cookman 

"That last game was a perfect example of how Stetson volleyball is played," Melville said.  "We ran our offense, each player had several kills, and Kayla (Weller) did a great job.  We ran a fast pace and it was very fun to play."

Kayla Weller continued her hot start to the season, dishing out 26 assists vs. Savannah State and 22 more against the Wildcats.

"All of our hitters were executing the plays, and I could rely on any single hitter I was going set," Weller said.  "We were all playing together really well It was good to see everyone making those big kills.  That gives everyone a spirit of energy to keep going."

Stetson played nearly error-free against Bethune-Cookman, posting a team attack pct. of .352 (38-6-91).  Cailyn Prewitt (4-0-7), Tiffany Creamer (7-0-10) and Ellen Hawks (8-0-14) did not commit an attack error during the match.  In fact, Hawks posted 13 kills combined without registering a hitting error the entire day.  The senior middle added five blocks, four against B-CU.

"Our offense was led by Kaley Melville and Ellen Hawks," Loesch said.  "Our two seniors had a very good day offensively.  They had a lot of help too so the other team was not able to key just on them.  I'd also like to point out Kayla Weller, who ran the offense and distributed the ball well, and made good choices and good sets."

Against Savannah State, Madison Akins tallied five kills, six digs, and four aces, while Michelle Kastner picked up a match-high 14 digs.

In the other game on Friday, Providence defeated Savannah State 3-0.

The tournament concludes with four matches on Saturday.  The Hatters will face Providence at 11 a.m. and Savannah State at 3 p.m.