Hatters Dig Deep To Outlast No. 15 South Carolina 3-2

Stetson Falls to FSU, Earns Saturday Split at Wheeler Beach

Columbia, S.C. -- No. 16 Stetson delivered a trio of gritty 3-set wins at Pairs 1, 2 and 5 to defeat No. 15 South Carolina 3-2 Saturday afternoon at Wheeler Beach.

Stetson (13-7) fell to No. 2 Florida State (19-0) 5-0 earlier in the day to earn a split on day 1 of the Gamecock Grand Slam.

Against the Gamecocks (13-6), South Carolina took an early 1-0 lead with a 2-0 win on Court 4. With all five seeds playing simultaneously, the match took a dramatic turn when the four remaining pairs all went to a third set. All third sets were eventually decided by three points or less.

On court 5, Aleksandra Stadnik and Madison Bobes battled back from a 21-17 loss in set 1 to win 21-19, 15-12 in the final two sets, tying the dual 1-1.

The Hatters then took a 2-1 lead on court 2 when Kamryn Johnson and Shae Henson won 19-21, 21-14, 15-13.

The Gamecocks pulled even on Court 3 with a 2-1 win (19-21, 21-19, 16-14).

The dual came down to Court 1, where Ana Costa and Carly Perales defeated Skylar Allen and Katie Smith in an extremely tight match, 19-21, 21-19, 15-13.

All three duals between the Hatters and Gamecocks this season have been decided by 3-2 margins. Stetson has now won two of the three head-to-head meetings.

The Hatters have also won five duals against Top 20 opponents. Stetson will face two more ranked teams on Sunday - No. 9 TCU at 11 a.m. and No. 17 Georgia State at 3 p.m.

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