DeLand, Fla. -- The Stetson volleyball team dropped its Atlantic Sun Conference opener on Saturday afternoon, falling 3-1 (25-15, 22-25, 25-15, 25-21) to visiting Florida Gulf Coast at the Edmunds Center.
Trailing 2-1 in the match, the Hatters (5-9, 0-1 A-Sun) had a golden opportunity to force a decisive fifth set. Stetson led 6-1 early and 17-11 later on before the Eagles (9-6, 1-0) finished the frame on a 14-4 run to close out the victory.
"The fourth set was extremely disappointing," Stetson head coach Kristina Hernandez said. "We had a huge lead, we put pressure on them, and then we backed off for no reason. Florida Gulf Coast did a good job in that set of staying patient and not giving up. I give them credit for sticking through that. We had a seven point lead at one point, and we just couldn't get out of a rotation. I thought our passing broke down, and we had been solid the whole match. We have got to be okay with the pressure and executing all the time, and maintaining that for an entire set."
Madison Akins led the Hatters with 12 kills. Madison Fitzsimmons added 10 kills and four blocks. McKenna Foster led the defense with 14 digs. Kayla Weller dished out 36 assists, including the 3200th of her career.
Amanada Carroll had 14 kills to lead FGCU. The Eagles hit .299 as a team.
Stetson will return to action at 7:30 p.m. Friday night at Lipscomb.
Hernandez on Madison Akins playing a full rotation:
"Maddie Akins hadn't played back row all season, but I thought she did a good job and was very aggressive attacking from the back row. She worked hard for a lot of balls. She does a lot of really good things that aren't on that stat sheet, and I thought she brought a lot of energy to us in that match."
Milestone
Kayla Weller is just the second player in school history and the 10th player in A-Sun history (in the rally scoring era) to record 3200 career assists.
Near Double-Double
McKenna Foster finished the match with nine kills, 14 digs, and a .226 attack percentage.
Deja Vu?
Stetson also dropped its season opener last season to FGCU, but the Hatters went on to win their next five in a row.
