Hatters Soar to Opening Day Sweep

Stetson Defeats No. 13 Georgia State and Saint Leo

DeLand, Fla. -- Stetson opened the 2019 season with a bang, defeating 13th-ranked Georgia State and Saint Leo by identical 5-0 scores Friday afternoon at the Cooper Beach Courts.

The 17th-ranked Hatters (2-0) won 40 of 41 sets on the day to start the season 2-0 for the first time since 2016.

"I was really, really happy with how we started this morning (against Georgia State)," Stetson head coach Kristina Hernandez said. "I thought all the pairs started off really strong. We were very consistent with our serving and passing, which was huge. I just liked the energy. It was a great win to start out the day."

Against GSU, Alexa Richardson and Yasmin Kuck gave the Hatters a 1-0 lead with a 21-11, 21-15 win at the 4 seed. It was the first career victory for the freshman Kuck.

"I am really excited for them and I thought they played great today," Hernandez said. "They had a lot of good offense and a lot of good hustle on defense for Lex."

At the 5 seed, Quinci Birker and Rebecca Ingram had to rally from 19-18 down in the first set to win 22-20. The pair then took the second set 21-14 to give Stetson a 2-0 lead at the changeover.

Reigning ASUN Pair of the Year Darby Dunn and Sammee Thomas clinched the match at the 2 seed with 21-9, 21-12 victory.

Sunniva Helland-Hansen and Carly Perales battled back-and-forth with Georgia State's Eden Hawes and Georgia Johnson at the 1 seed. After falling behind early in the first set, the Hatter duo rallied for a 21-18 win. In the second set, a seesaw affair saw both teams battle deep into extra points before Helland-Hansen buried the game-winner at 30-28.

At the 3 seed, Rachel Noble and Ana Costa captured a 2-1 victory with a 15-9 win in the third set. It was Noble's 70th career win and the first for Costa.

"I thought they were very strong and very competitive, and overall just a very aggressive pair," Hernandez said. "I feel like we are going to see a lot of great stuff out of them this year."

Against Saint Leo, the Hatters won in straight sets at all 5 seeds.

The Hatters have now won 11 straight matches dating back to last year and 45 straight matches against unranked opponents.

The Stetson Spring Fling continues Saturday as the Hatters face No. 10 FIU at 10 a.m. and Eckerd at 2 p.m.

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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