DeLand, Fla. -- Marshall spoiled Stetson's home opener Wednesday night with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-15) victory at the Edmunds Center.

It was the fifth win in a row for the Thundering Herd (9-3) while Stetson fell to 2-9.

The Hatters made a late run in the second set, closing a 24-20 deficit down to 24-23 after Anna Bezhan and Olivia Duval teamed up for a block.  After taking a timeout, Marshall closed out the set and grabbed a 2-0 lead in the match.

"I thought we battled and competed in the first two sets," Stetson head coach Kristina Hernandez said.  "Our defense and our blocking were really solid.  I felt like in the third set, after we came out from the 10 minute break, I thought we were unfocused, so that was disappointing to see.  We were so close in that second set, and we just had to fix that little lull that we had."

Madison Akins led the Hatters with 10 kills, including the 900th kill of her career.  She has recorded double digit kills in five straight matches. Roxy Lake dished out 24 assists and McKenna Foster picked up 11 digs.  Duval led the team with four blocks.

Marshall outhit Stetson .226 to .137.  Allie Kellerman recorded six aces and 16 digs to lead the Herd.

"We have to do a better job of staying focused a battling through those tough matches," Hernandez said.  "For us, it is trying finish and close out sets.  That's where we are falling a little bit short.  We hang in there, and then we kind of do it to ourselves at the end of sets.  It is something we have to focus on over the next two days."

Stetson will make a return trip to Tampa on Friday to open the USF Classic against the host Bulls.  The Hatters also played in a tournament at USF back on Sept. 2-3.  Friday's match against USF will begin at 7 p.m.