Friday, the Stetson sand volleyball team suffered a tough loss to Georgia State by a score of 3-2 on the first day of the Fiesta on Siesta Key.

"It was a hard loss," senior Kaley Melville explained. "We really had to fight at every seed. All the matches were a battle."

The match featured intense competition in which every seed went to a third set. Stetson got its first loss at the no. 5 position when Georgia State's Alexis Townsend and Delaney Rohan defeated Tiffany Creamer and Kristin Lind 21-18, 16-21, 15-11. The Hatters lost another close match at the two spot. Stetson's Savannah Byl and Catherine Coston came within two points of victory, but they were outlasted by the Georgia State pair of Sara Olivova and Jansen Button. Georgia State solidified the win at the third seed as Stetson's Julie Bassett and Rachael Farrell fell 21-16, 19-21, 15-12 to Katelyn Rawls and Sara Agnew.

Although Georgia State had already secured a victory with its 3-0 lead, Stetson continued to battle for the final two seeds. In the no. 1 position, Melville and her partner Kaylee Anderson gave Stetson its first victory. After losing the first set 18-21, the duo came back to win the next two sets 21-18, 15-11. The final action took place at the fourth seed as Stetson's Maren Rygh and Jordann Dierickx played Georgia State's Milani Pickering and Natalie Wilson. The competition was close throughout the match, and the third set went into extra points before Rygh and Dierickx finally won 20-18.

"It was really exciting to watch Maren and Jordann," Melville said. "Their match was really intense, and the whole team was cheering for them on the sidelines."