DELAND, Fla. Stetson Volleyball will play a final series of non-conference matches as they head to Tampa for the Bulls Volleyball Invitational, facing South Dakota, South Florida and Cornell with all matches taking place at the USF Corral. South Florida's match will be available on ESPN+.

"I am still looking for improvement from our team," head coach Yang Deng said "I am very focused on the progress instead of the result so almost after every game we will reset and move to the next one. Our focus this week is on how do we continue to improve. We have to work on specific things and be precise in certain areas to make improvements. This weekend should be evenly competitive so we just want to set ourselves in a good position to continue to improve our play together. I really enjoy how we are playing on the court, the team has spirit and energy. They're working together well and that's a big part of the game. They have responded well to my challenges as a team with positivity."

The Hatters open the weekend event with South Dakota Friday at 10 a.m. After dropping the opening match of the season to the fourth-ranked Louisville in the Coyote Invitational, the Vermillion, South Dakota-based team has been on a tear, winning eight consecutive matches. The run of play was recognized by the Summit League which honored SD's junior middle blocker Madison Harms as offensive player of the week.

The Coyotes have played six of their nine matches in South Dakota, five on home court with a sixth in Sioux Falls, roughly an hour from campus. Among those eight wins are wins over Missouri and West Virginia. The only time the Hatters and the Coyotes played against each other, SD took the match 3-0 in Montgomery,
Alabama; however, that match was 10 years ago, taking place on August 24, 2012.

Up next on Friday for Stetson is tournament host South Florida with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m. The home side for the tournament has had a rough go as of late starting winning four of their first six, the pair of losses coming to teams receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches rankings, but dropping the last three matches, all three at the UTSA Invitational. Amid the form, South Florida has got the better of the Hatters in the match history with the Bulls taking every recorded meeting since 2002, seven matches.

The Hats will face the Big Red of Cornell to close out the tournament. The team from Ithica, New York has a 2-4 record this season fresh from hosting the Cornell Invitational last weekend, although the last two were in five-set matches. The pair of wins for CU came on the same day, defeating Kent State and Southern Indiana both at the Kent State Invitational. Stetson and the Big Red have faced each other once with Cornell taking the victory, 3-1, just over 22 years ago on September 8, 2000.

"I am expecting to get some confidence that we can play against some bigger teams and still pull through and play together," super senior middle blocker Alexis Thompson said "We have some confidence going into it and I just want [us] to play like that."
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS. Get in on the conversation on social media by following Stetson Athletics on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channels: Stetson Hatters, Stetson Athletics and, for live events, Hatter Vision.