Stetson Volleyball fell to South Carolina Friday afternoon, 1-3. The team was missing both their setters but fought hard and managed to take a set from the Gamecocks. 
 
The Hatters jumped out to early leads in the first two sets, but fell 18-25 in the first, and 11-25 in the second. 
 
In the third set, Stetson started on fire, going on a 5-0 run to take the lead. They continued to build on their lead increasing it to seven when Leilani Vitale tallied a block making it 9-2. The Gamecocks chipped the Hatters' lead to three, but the Hatters responded with a 4-1 scoring run. Again South Carolina brought Stetson's lead down to three. This time the Hatters went on a 6-1 run which included back-to-back kills from Lauren Della as well as a kill from Vitale and Anabelle Standish to make it 22-14. The Hatters held on taking the third set 25-19. 
 
The fourth set was a tough battle for Stetson as they fell 15-25 and dropped the match to South Carolina 1-3. 
 
Standish and Vitale each finished with the team lead in kills with 10 followed by Della with 8. With the two setters being out for Stetson, Head Coach Yang Deng played Selin Kalkan at the position. Kalkan led the team in assists with 13 followed by Vitale who tallied 11. Haruka Sugimoto continued her strong defensive play as she totaled 20 digs. Vitale also had a strong day at the net as she tallied 8 total blocks followed by Kayla Balfour and Ayala Halfon each with five. 
 
Stetson will look to bounce back tomorrow, Saturday, September 13 when they take on FIU and Wake Forest. Those matches will start at 11 am and 3 pm respectively.