Hatters Win Twice on Friday

Tavares, Fla. -- Stetson earned a pair of victories on Day 1 of the Hickory Point Lake Bash, defeating UNCW 5-0 and New Mexico 4-1 Friday afternoon in Tavares, Fla.

The 15th-ranked Hatters (8-5) have now won five matches in a row by a combined score of 24-1.

Against UNCW, Stetson won in straight sets at all five courts, including a solid 21-11, 21-12 win by Rachel Noble and Samantha Harris at the 3 seed.

Against New Mexico, the Hatters needed a pair of three-set wins at the 1 and 4 seeds to capture the victory.

Stetson's first point came at the 5 seed where Rebecca Ingram and Quinci Birker won easily, 21-10, 21-8. At the 4 seed, Lauren Durham and Julie Varga won the first set 21-10, dropped the second set 22-20, but bounced back for a 15-5 win in the third set, giving Stetson a 2-0 lead.

New Mexico earned a point at the 3 seed with a 26-24, 21-16 win. At the 2 seed, Darby Dunn and Sammee Thomas went deep in extra points to win the first set 33-31, staving off several set points in the process. They took the second set 21-16 to clinch the match for the Hatters.

At the 1 seed, Sunniva Helland-Hansen and Carly Perales won 21-19, 23-25, 15-8 to improve to 11-2 in duals on the season.

The Hatters will play Day 2 of the Hickory Point Lake Bash Saturday against FAU at 9 a.m. and Houston Baptist at 2 p.m.

Stetson 5, UNCW 0

1. Carly Perales/Sunniva Helland-Hansen (STET) def. Maddy Kline/Nicole Lott (UNCW) 21-14, 21-17

2. Darby Dunn/Sammee Thomas (STET) def. JM Lewandowski/Halle Hunt (UNCW) 21-11, 21-11

3. Samantha Harris/Rachel Noble (STET) def. Sarah Kelly/Raquel Rooney (UNCW) 21-11, 21-12

4. Lauren Durham/Julie Varga (STET) def. Katie McCullough/Brynn Montgomery (UNCW) 21-19, 23-21

5. Rebecca Ingram/Quinci Birker (STET) def. Jaime Thomas/Courtney Mullinax (UNCW) 21-13, 21-11

Ext. Katinka Krahn/Alexa Richardson (STET) def. Kati Smith/Kyra Augustine (UNCW) 21-7, 21-9

Stetson 4, New Mexico 1

1. Carly Perales/Sunniva Helland-Hansen (STET) def. Maddie Irwin/Erin Martin (NM) 21-19, 23-25, 15-8

2. Sammee Thomas/Darby Dunn (STET) def. Yasmin Tan/Chloe Crappell (NM) 33-31, 21-16

3. Eastyn Baleto/Lauren Twitty (NM) def. Samantha Harris/Rachel Noble (STET) 26-24, 21-16

4. Julie Varga/Lauren Durham (STET) def. Carly Beddingfield/Abbey Willison (NM) 21-10, 20-22, 15-5