Jacksonville, Fla. – Stetson hit a season-high .296 and cruised to a 3-0 (25-17, 26-24, 25-14) victory over host UNF in an Atlantic Sun Conference match Saturday at the UNF Arena.
Freshman Haley Tippett recorded her fourth consecutive double-double, registering 13 kills and 12 digs, as the Hatters (8-12, 3-4 A-Sun) won for the third time in their last four matches.
"We passed really well," Stetson head coach Kristina Hernandez said. "They are a very strong blocking team, but we passed well and got some good looks everywhere. Our middles did a good job of working around the block."
Tippett also hit .458 for match, committing just two errors in 24 attempts. Shelby Connors also hit for a high percentage, finishing the match at an even .400 (7-1-15).
"Haley was virtually unstoppable at one point," Hernandez said. "She played brilliantly. It was probably one of the best games I have seen her play."
Kayla Weller helped run a balanced and efficient offensive attack with 34 assists. She also had seven digs and five blocks.
Madison Fitzsimmons recorded six blocks for the second consecutive match. The Hatters had nine blocks as a team.
Michelle Kastner picked up 15 of the team's 56 digs.
UNF fell to 16-5, 3-4.
Stetson will host Florida A&M in a non-conference match on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Road Win
Stetson picked up its first true road win of the year. The Hatters were 4-3 in neutral games but 0-6 on the road entering the contest.
"It is huge," Hernandez said. "We talked to them about it yesterday that we really needed to be good on the road. I feel like we are really competitive at home. I challenged them with that yesterday after we lost and they responded really well and they definitely showed up and competed. I felt like we were in control the enitre match, even when the second set was really close, I felt like we were in control of what was going on."
Clutch Moment
The turning point in the match came at the end of the second set. With UNF leading 24-23, the Hatters produced back-to-back-to-back kills from McKenna Foster, Madison Fitzsimmons, and Foster again to give Stetson a 2-0 lead in the match.
Back in the Race
After a 0-3 start to league play, Stetson has won three of its last four matches to climb into fifth place. If Lipscomb defeats Kennesaw State on Sunday, the Hatters will be tied for fourth place entering the second half of conference play.
Reversing a Trend
Stetson won at UNF for the first time since 2008. In 22 all-time meetings vs. UNF, the Hatters have only defeated the Ospreys by a 3-0 score twice.
Moving Up
Kayla Weller has moved into ninth in A-Sun history (in the rally scoring era) in career assists (3,459).
Keep On Blocking
With 12 blocks on the weekend, Madison Fitzsimmons now has a league-leading 87 blocks on the season. She has 24 blocks in her last four matches overall.
