Coral Gables, Fla. – The Hatters battled every point as they fell just short in each set to Miami to conclude the 305 Challenge.
The Hatters got off to a slow start this morning going down 0-6 in the first set before fighting back to close the gap to one with the score being 8-9. The Hatters and Hurricanes would trade points before being tied at 15. Stetson would be down 21-24 when
Kayla Balfour would go on a three-point scoring run that included two blocks and a kill to tie the game at 24 with Miami calling a timeout. The teams would continue the battle being tied at 25 and 26 before the Hurricanes would take the set 26-28.
In the second set the Hatters would find themselves down for a majority of the match. Down 9-17 the Hatters would go on a seven-point scoring run spearheaded by
Elif Yasar to close the gap to one. Yasar would tally three service aces on the run however the Hatters would drop the second set 20-25.
In the third set the Hatters would jump out 2-0 giving them their first lead of the match and the two teams would continue trading points as the score would end up tied at 17. The Hurricanes would get the next point, but Head Coach
Yang Deng would challenge the call on the court that would award the Hatters the point giving them the lead again 18-17. The teams would go back and forth until the two teams were knotted at 21. Miami would end the game on four-point streak to win the match 25-21.
The Hatters showed tremendous heart and fight throughout the game with several different players contributing in each set. Balfour and
Sophia Groom would be tied for the team lead in kills with seven a piece. Groom would also lead the team with seven total blocks.
Nyah Molina and Yasar would be tied at 14 assists. Molina would also lead the team with nine digs followed by
Haruka Sugimoto with eight. The scores of the sets don't reflect the heart the Hatters played with. They lead both teams in hitting percentage, blocks and had almost a quarter of the attack errors that the Hurricanes committed.
Stetson will return home to being conference play on Friday, September 22 against North Florida. The match will begin at 6pm and will be streamed on ESPN+.
