Beach Volleyball April 20, 2018 Athletic Communications

Hatters Seek Fourth ASUN Beach Championship

2018 ASUN BEACH VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
WHEN | Saturday-Sunday
WHERE | Cooper Beach Courts (418 E. Minnesota Ave.)
ADMISSION | Free
LIVE VIDEO | ESPN3
LIVE STATS | StetsonStats.com
TWITTER | @StetsonBeach
TEXT ALERTS | HatCheck
GAME NOTES | Stetson (PDF)

The 17th-ranked Stetson beach volleyball team will look to capture its fourth conference championship in the past five years as the Hatters host the 2018 ASUN Beach Volleyball Championship this weekend at the Cooper Beach Courts.

Stetson (27-8), the No. 1 seed for the tournament, will face the winner of fourth-seeded Mercer vs. fifth-seeded Jacksonville at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon. If the Hatters stay in the winners bracket, they will play a semifinal match at 9 a.m. Sunday. The winner-take-all championship match is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday.

Here is the full schedule:

Saturday:
Match 1, 9 a.m.: No. 4 Mercer (8-11) vs. No. 5 Jacksonville (5-16)
Match 2, 11 a.m.: No. 2 FGCU (13-9) vs. No. 3 UNF (17-10)
Match 3, 1 p.m.: No. 1 Stetson (27-8) vs. Match 1 winner
Match 4, 3 p.m.: Match 1 loser vs. Match 2 loser

Sunday:
Match 5, 9 a.m.: Match 2 winner vs. Match 3 winner
Match 6, 11 a.m.: Match 4 winner vs. Match 3 loser
Match 7, 1 p.m.: Match 5 loser vs. Match 6 winner
Match 8, 3 p.m.: Winner-Take-All Championship Match

Admission is free.

Stetson went a perfect 10-0 in conference play to clinch the ASUN regular season title and the No. 1 seed for the fourth year in a row. The Hatters' pairs combined to win 44 of their 50 matches against ASUN opponents.

Stetson previously won the ASUN Championship in 2014, 2015 and 2017.

"It would be a great achievement to win our fourth title in five years, and to capitalize on the great season we have had during the regular season," Stetson head coach and ASUN Coach of the Year Kristina Hernandez said. "We just want to finish as best as we can and see what falls in to place after that.

"It would be huge for our program but it is going to be a tough road. There are some good teams, and they really want it, so we have to be prepared for that and understand everyone is going to come at us a little harder this year."

All eight ASUN Championship matches will be broadcast live on ESPN3 with Tom James and Taylor Kennedy calling the action. Live scores will be available on StetsonStats.com.

Home Court Advantage
Stetson will enjoy home court advantage in the ASUN Championship for the second straight year. The Hatters are 51-15 all-time at the Cooper Beach Courts, including 6-3 this season.

Injury Update
The Hatters expect the return of Julie Varga to the lineup after missing four matches last weekend in Fort Myers. Varga and Lauren Durham went 5-1 at the 4 seed in ASUN play.

Expected Lineup
1. Darby Dunn / Sammee Thomas (29-6)
2. Sunniva Helland-Hansen / Carly Perales (29-6)
3. Rachel Noble / Samantha Harris (24-10)
4. Lauren Durham / Julie Varga (17-6)
5. Quinci Birker / Rebecca Ingram (17-9)

National Rankings
The Hatters are currently ranked 17th in the nation in this week's AVCA Beach Poll. It is the 34th consecutive week the Hatters have been ranked in the AVCA Poll, dating back to the 2015 season. Stetson is also ranked 18th in the DiG Magazine Collegiate Beach Poll.

27 Dual Match Wins
Since starting the year 3-5, the Hatters have won 24 of their last 27 matches and have outscored their opponents 110-25 in duals during that stretch. Stetson ranks third in the NCAA with 27 victories on the season. All eight losses have come to Top 15 opponents.

School Record
The Hatters need one win to tie and two wins to break the school single-season record of 28 dual victories set in 2016.

Streaking in the ASUN
The Hatters have won 23 straight matches against ASUN opponents, dating back to last year.

Unranked Opponents
Stetson is 25-0 against unranked opponents this season and has won 41 straight matches against unranked opponents dating back to last year. The Hatters are 2-8 against ranked opponents but have won seven wins against teams receiving votes in the AVCA poll.

ASUN Pair of the Year
Sammee Thomas and Darby Dunn went a perfect 10-0 in ASUN play to win ASUN Pair of the Year honors. It is the fourth straight year the Hatters have had the Pair of the Year, and the second straight selection for Dunn.

ASUN All-Conference Team
Sunniva Helland-Hansen and Carly Perales earned their first ASUN All-Conference team selection. They tied with Dunn and Thomas to lead the ASUN with 29 dual match victories. They were the ASUN Pair of the Tournament in 2017.

ASUN All-Freshman Team
Rebecca Ingram and Quinci Birker each earned ASUN All-Freshman Team honors have going 17-9 as a pair at the 5 seed. Ingram is from Maffra, Australia and Birker hails from Kelowna, B.C.

ASUN All-Academic Team
Rachel Noble, an Sport Business major with a 3.84 cumulative GPA, earned ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. She was joined on the ASUN All-Academic team by Samantha Harris, Julie Varga, and Darby Dunn.

Single-Season Rankings
Stetson's 1 and 2 seeds each have 29 dual match victories this season. That ranks as the second-highest single-season totals in school history. They are three wins shy of tying the all-time school record of 32 wins set by Vendy Strakova and Sara Putt in 2016.

100+ Wins for Coach Hernandez
Stetson head coach Kristina Hernandez earned her 100th victory with Stetson Beach on March 24 vs. Tulane. She is 115-42 in her fifth season with the Hatters.

All-Time Record
Stetson Beach is in its eighth season of competition and the Hatters hold an all-time record of 137-61 (.692).

Career Rankings
Rachel Noble ranks third on Stetson's all-time wins list with 67 dual match victories. She trails only Kristin Lind (88) and Kaylee Anderson (77). Darby Dunn ranks eighth with 53 dual match wins. Samantha Harris (49) and Sunniva Helland-Hansen (48) are closing in on the 50-win mark.

Follow the Hatters
For complete coverage of Stetson Beach Volleyball, follow the Hatters on Twitter (@StetsonBeach), Instagram (@StetsonBeachVB) and Facebook (StetsonBeach), and sign up for the HatCheck text messaging system.

About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.

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