Macon, Ga. -- For the second consecutive season, the Stetson beach volleyball team has clinched at least a share of the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season championship.
The ninth-ranked Hatters (20-6, 7-1 A-Sun) defeated Mercer twice Tuesday afternoon, winning by scores of 4-1 and 5-0 to secure both the regular season title and the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament.
UNF still has an opportunity to tie Stetson for first-place, but the Hatters hold the tiebreaker with the Ospreys for tournament seeding.
At the 1 seed, Vendy Strakova and Sara Putt won both matches in straight sets to improve their pairs record to 24-1 on the season.
Stetson's 2 seed of Kristin Lind and Rachel Noble dropped their first match but bounced back with a 22-20, 17-21, 18-16 victory in the rematch.
At the 3 seed, Kaylee Anderson and Emily Carrol claimed a 2-1 victory in the first match and a 2-0 win in the second.
Stetson's 4 seed of Madison Akins and Samantha Harris battled their way to a pair of three-set victories, winning 15-12 in the decisive frame both times.
Fifth seed and A-Sun Pair of the Week Jamie Walsh and Alexa Richardson won in three sets in the opener and in straight sets in the rematch.
The Hatters improved to 17-1 in their last 18 regular season A-Sun matches. The team also reached the 20-win mark for the second time in program history.
This weekend, the Hatters will compete in four dual matches at the annual Fiesta on Siesta Key. Stetson will face UAB (11:30 a.m.) and Grand Canyon (4 p.m.) on Saturday and South Carolina (9:30 a.m.) and Louisiana-Monroe (1 p.m.) on Sunday.
