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vb celebration
3
Winner Stetson STET 5-2
2
St. John's SJU 7-2
Winner
Stetson STET
5-2
3
Final
2
St. John's SJU
7-2
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Stetson STET 22 25 25 17 15 (3)
St. John's SJU 25 23 11 25 13 (2)

Game Recap: Volleyball | | Athletic Communications

Hatters Storm Past St. John's in Five-Set Thriller

Stetson Improves to 5-2

Nacagdoches, Texas -- Trailing 4-0 and 11-6 in the fifth set, Stetson mounted a furious comeback to defeat St. John's 3-2 (22-25, 25-23, 25-11, 17-25, 15-13) Friday afternoon in the first match of the SFA Volleyball Invitational.

Hao Jin registered a career-high 17 kills, including the game-winner from the right pin on a beautiful back set from Naina Ivanova.

The win improves Stetson to 5-2 on the season, tying for the team's best start in the rally scoring era.

St. John's (7-2) suffered just its second loss of the season.

In the fifth set, Stetson trailed 8-5 at the changeover and 11-6 shortly thereafter.  A kill by Riley Nieporte got the Hatters going, and after a Red Storm ball-handling error, Jin pulled Stetson to within 11-9 with a kill.

The teams then traded points before Ivanova stepped up with two huge blocks - one solo and one with Jin - to tie the set at 12.  

"(Naina's) block was huge," Stetson head coach Yang Deng said.  "It came at a critical time and gave us some energy.  Then (Hao) had a double block which really got the wheels turning the other way.  That was a big turning point for us.  From there, we kept the pressure on."

Eva Deisa's kill gave the Hatters their first lead of the set, and Jin's solo block made it 14-12 Stetson.  

The Red Storm closed the gap to 14-13 before Ivanova fed Jin on a slide play for the winner.

"(Naina) called the play set," Deng said.  "That set was perfect and made a statement for the game."

Jin added a season-high eight blocks to her 17-kill total.  She also hit .400.  Fellow middle Brianna Schmid hit .667 with five blocks.

Stetson trailed 1-0 early before tying the match with a 25-23 win in Set 2.   

Set 3 proved to be the Hatters' best defensive set of the season as a 16-4 run to start and a 7-0 run to finish led to a 25-11 victory.

St. John's forced the final set with a 25-17 win in Set 4.

Ivanova finished with 40 assists, 10 digs, five blocks and an ace.   Deisa also recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 13 digs.  Chelcie Spence tallied 17 digs and three aces, while Charlotte Earnhart netted eight kills and 11 digs.

Stetson hit over .200 (.209) for the seventh straight time this season.  St. John's hit .154.

The Hatters recorded 14 blocks as a team.

Stetson will face Grambling State at 5 p.m. 

Notes: The only other time Stetson was 5-2 in the rally scoring era was in 2014 ... The Hatters last defeated a Big East opponent in 2013 (Providence) ... Stetson is 2-1 in five-set matches this season and 11-4 in Sets 3, 4, and 5 combined ... St. John's was just one of five teams with seven wins on the season entering play on Friday.

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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