After two weeks on the road, the Stetson volleyball team returns home to the Edmunds Center for the first time in the 2022 season on Friday as the Hatters host the annual Stetson Invitational Tournament.
 
Play in the tournament will begin at 3 p.m. with Volusia County rival Bethune-Cookman taking on Mercer. The Hatters will face off against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in the second match of the day at 6 p.m.
 
The tournament will resume on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. when Mercer squares off against SIUE with Stetson set to face Bethune-Cookman at 12:30 p.m. The Wildcats will play SIUE at 4 p.m. with Stetson and Mercer set to close out the event on Saturday evening at 6 p.m.
 
The Hatters come into the tournament with a 5-1 record, but are coming off their first loss of the year, a four-set defeat at the hands of Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton last Saturday.
 
"We played fairly well last week, even though we lost that one game," Hatters' coach Yang Deng said. "We still need to feel that sense of urgency when we play because we still need to improve. Even though we have a really good group of girls on this team, they are a little young and inexperienced. They probably needed to feel that failure to know what it is like.
 
"We try to practice as much as we can for game situations so they can get the experience they need. You can't learn from the experience unless feel bad from the experience of losing."
 
The teams the Hatters host this weekend have had mixed results so far this year. SIUE is 3-2 with wins over Northern Illinois and Southern Illinois Carbondale. Mercer is 2-4 having dropped straight set matches to both Lehigh and FAU opening weekend. The Bears also lost two of three games in their home tournament last week, losing to Southern Miss and Charleston Southern with a win over new ASUN member Queens University.
 
Cookman is winless so far on the season, getting swept in tournaments at UNC Greensboro and Houston Baptist the first two weeks of the season.
 
"I think we will be right in the mix against the teams we are playing this weekend, if we play up to what we are capable of," Deng said. "We have to focus on all the things we need to do to win but, at the same time, we can't predict the results. Our practices this week have been OK, but it is very hard for teams, especially young teams, to see what the future holds when they are at practice. We just have to continue, as a team, to strive for improvement."
 
The Hatters have been led by seniors Elena Djokovic (62 kills), Alexis Thompson (37 kills) and Kennedy Muldrow (12 kills, 13 aces) but have also had major contributions from sophomores Leilani Vitale (41 kills), Anabelle Standish (39 kills) Lauren Vargo (55 digs, 12 aces) and Nyah Molina (172 assists) along with freshman Sophia Groom (29 kills).
 
"Before we get to conference play, and we still have two weeks, of course we don't want to lose any games, but we need to be able to provide windows of playing time for those younger players to get them as much experience as we can," Deng said. "Any time you start mixing in new people on the volleyball court it is difficult for the players who have been together for two or three years.
 
"You can see when those young players are in the game the flashes of talent they bring to the floor for us."
 
Deng said the entire squad, coaches included, are excited about being able to play on their home floor in front of home fans. She also indicated that she is going to do some mixing and matching with her lineups for the matches this weekend.
 
"We are very excited to be home," Deng said. "Going on the road is always difficult.
 
"We are going to be creative with our lineups this weekend because we want to try to use everyone's strengths to the maximum. That is part of the fun being a coach, I get to be creative and see if the girls can handle that."
 
All matches during the tournament will be broadcast on Stetson's YouTube Channel, HatterVision.
 
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.