DeLand, Fla. – With the score tied 13-all in the decisive fifth set, Haley Tippett rung up back-to-back kills from the outside to give Stetson a dramatic 3-2 (20-25, 25-20, 17-25, 25-23, 15-13) victory over visiting Jacksonville Friday night at the Edmunds Center.
A season-high crowd of 565 saw the Hatters (10-13, 4-5 A-Sun) rally from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to defeat the two-time defending Atlantic Sun Conference champions at home for the third year in a row.
“I was glad to see us in that fifth set be real consistent with what we were doing,” Stetson head coach Kristina Hernandez said. “I thought we started out really strong, I thought our serving was really aggressive, the passing was good, and the blocking picked up. I felt like we fought really hard at the end and took some aggressive swings.”
In the fifth set, Stetson led 8-4 at the changeover before extending the advantage to 11-6. The Dolphins (8-13, 5-4 A-Sun) fought back, however, scoring the next five points to tie the set at 11.
The teams then traded the next four points as the score was tied again at 12-12 and 13-13, setting the stage for Tippett's heroics.
“When I knew that Kayla (Weller) was going to set me, I was really focused in and wanted to come through for my team,” Tippett said. “We've been really focusing on making big plays, so I just wanted to come in and finish really strong to get the win.”
McKenna Foster, who led the team with 16 kills, served the final two points for Stetson.
“I was just thinking I needed to get the serve in and be aggressive, because anything less than that was not going to cut it,” Foster said. “I just went back there and focused on it and served the zone where coach told me.”
Stetson's defense came through in the clutch. After grabbing just four digs in the third set, the team combined for 36 digs in the fourth and fifth set wins. Madison Akins led the Hatters with 19 digs for the match.
“I think we did a good job of talking to our block so we knew what they were trying to take away and where we needed to be on defense,” Akins said. “Everyone just stepped up and dug into holes and did a good job.”
The win moves Stetson into sole possession of fifth place in the conference standings, just a game behind Jacksonville for fourth place.
“It was huge, a huge confidence booster,” Hernandez said. “Hopefully we can use this and get another good win here tomorrow against UNF. But JU is up there (in the standings), so this is a good win for us, especially this late in the season.”
Stetson will host UNF at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Big Blocks
Stetson collected 10 blocks in the match, including six by Madison Fitzsimmons. The Hatter freshman now has an even 100 blocks on the season, becomming the fifth Hatter in the rally scoring era to reach the centurey mark in blocks. She is only the second freshman to do so (Shelby Connors, 2014).
50 Assists
Kayla Weller tallied an even 50 assists in the match. It is the third time this season and 14th time in her career she has dished out 50 assists in a match.
Still Streaking
Haley Tippett had double figures in kills (13) for the ninth match in a row.
Five Sets Again
All three wins over JU in the past three seasons have gone five sets.
