Collapsed Hat
Hatters crash against the FGCU Eagles in five sets after a 2–0 lead
The Stetson Hatters (11–12, 6–5 ASUN) fall short of what could have been the FGCU Eagles’ first conference loss of the year, as Stetson loses to FGCU (19–5, 11–0 ASUN) in five sets. The Hatters took down FGCU in the first two sets of the game, but once the Eagles won a close third set, they flew away and left Stetson completely grounded. The Eagles remain soaring over the rest of the ASUN conference with an 11–0 record. Meanwhile, Stetson stumbles to 6–5 and stays without consecutive conference wins since their weekend against Jacksonville and UNF.
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This game was a tale of two halves: Stetson outplayed FGCU in the first two sets, while the Eagles kept committing errors on all phases of the game. Then, fortunes began to flip when FGCU won the third set 25–23. The Hatters looked dazed and confused, committing various errors offensively and defensively. Serves sailing out, cross-net kills missing the line, and messy return sessions. Ultimately, FGCU outgained Stetson in kills (FGCU 69 STET 46), hitting percentage (FGCU 19.6% STET 15.6%), assists (FGCU 61 STET 43), and digs (FGCU 72 STET 57). However, Stetson won the blocking competition against the other best blocking team in the conference, producing 15 blocks while FGCU only had 6 blocks. They also slightly matched FGCU in aces (STET 6 FGCU 7) and had less attacking errors (STET 22 FGCU 34). Most of the Hatters’ attacking errors came after the first two sets, where they had a total of 2 errors compared to 20 the rest of the way. Anabelle Standish was ultimately not an effective attacker this evening, which Stetson cannot afford if they want to win games. She had only 11 kills in 49 attacks that produced 13 points, but 10 errors brought down her hitting percentage to a measly 2% hitting percentage. Amaris Carter, Leilani Vitale, and Sophia Groom had a much more efficient night than Standish, each one going over a 20% hitting percentage, with Carter as the leading scorer of the game with 17.5 points. Nyah Molina actually led the team in hitting percentage, with a 45.5% in only 11 total attacks, continuing her trend of having an effective offensive output with low attack volume. Groom, Carter, Vitale, and freshman Kayla Balfour contributed greatly to Stetson’s blocking defense, with each player having 4 blocks or more. Unfortunately, the Hatters could not keep Alexandra Zakutney and Skylar English quiet the whole game, with both of them eventually heating up, scoring 19 and 18 points, respectively. Courtney Glotzbach and Shelby Kent caught fire offensively, with Glotzbach having a 38.1% hitting percentage and Kent with a 29.4% hitting percentage.
Stetson had their chance in the third set to seal their win. Instead, the Eagles fly out of danger with their undefeated conference record, extending their winning streak against the Hatters to 23 wins. Now, Stetson will need to go back to the drawing board as they go on the road this weekend to face Central Arkansas, who remains winless in the conference.
