DeLand, Fla. -- The No. 9 Stetson sand volleyball team moved two steps closer to clinching the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season title on Wednesday.
The Hatters (16-2, 6-0 A-Sun) swept a doubleheader from conference rival UNF (8-8, 3-3), defeating the Ospreys by 5-0 and 4-1 scores to remain undefeated in league play this season.
If Stetson wins at least one of its final two matches against Mercer on Saturday, the Hatters will claim their first regular season title in program history and clinch the No. 1 seed for the upcoming conference tournament.
"Overall as a team, that was our whole mindset," sophomore Kaylee Anderson said about picking up the two wins. "We wanted to come out and show what we have been working on in practice. We wanted to come out fighting right from the start."
Anderson and her partner at the No. 4 seed, Madison Akins, got the Hatters on the board first, but it took a dramatic three-set victory to do so. After dropping the first set 21-17 and trailing 20-18 in the second set, the duo staved off match point twice before rallying for 22-20 win. They then completed the comeback with a 15-10 victory in the third set.
"We struggled a little bit in the beginning, but we made some adjustments and turned it around," Anderson said.
"In the second set, we started to play like we know how to play," Akins added. "The run (at the end) definitely helped, but I think it is just more that we picked up our play and that we figured out what we needed to do. When we got into the third set, everything just clicked."
Stetson's No. 5 seed of Claudia Kalin and Madison Tormey followed with a three-set victory of their own to put Stetson ahead 2-0. The Hatters' top three seeds were all victorious, including Maren Rygh and Kristin Lind in another three-set match that went down to the wire at 15-13.
In the second match of the day, the two teams split the first two points, with Stetson winning 2-0 at the No. 4 seed and UNF taking a 2-1 win at the No. 5 seed.
After the No. 1 seed of Kaley Melville and Julie Bassett earned a 2-0 victory to put the Hatters in front, the No. 3 seed of Savannah Byl and Holly Reschke clinched the match with a 2-0 win of their own.
Both of those pairs won all four of their sets on the day, including Bassett and Melville's decisive tallies of 21-16, 21-14, 21-9, and 21-14. The reigning A-Sun Pair of the Week have now won 15 consecutive dual matches as Stetson's top seed.
"I am kind of at the point where I don't worry about them any more," Stetson head coach Kristina Hernandez said about Bassett and Melville. "We put them at the one seed because we are so confident in their decision making. They are so strategic and able to make adjustments, I don't feel the need to sit there and coach them. They are so used to each other, and they work so well together. They are in a really good groove right now, and it is nice to see."
The Hatters will host Mercer in a doubleheader at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Notes: Both teams battled through warm and windy conditions Wednesday ... Stetson is now 14-8 in third sets this year ... The Hatters have won 14 of their last 15 matches.
