FORT MYERS, Fla. – In the first Atlantic Sun Conference match of the 2014 season, the FGCU volleyball team defeated the Hatters of Stetson University 3-0 Saturday night at Alico Arena.  The Eagles earned wins of 25-23, 25-19 and 30-28 to move to 1-0 in conference action and 6-7 overall.  The Hatters fell to 8-6 with a 0-1 record in A-Sun competition.
 
"It's nice to be able to start out at home and it's huge for us to get this win to start the year," said head coach Matt Botsford following the conference win. "In the first two sets we were very good defensively. Our blocking was great and we were able to take the lead because of our serving defense and blocking. But we were lacking on the offensive side.  At the break we talked about needing to improve our offense and I think we saw that a lot in the third set."
 
As a unit, the Eagles hit .177 on the night, while holding the hatters to an attack percentage of .137.  FGCU outperformed the Hatters 45-38 in kills, 49-39 in digs and 44-35 in assists for an all-around performance.
 
Individually, senior Jessica Barnes (Winter Haven, Fla./Haines City High School) paced the Eagle attack with 12 kills, while freshman Mackenzie Allen (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast High School) added 11 kills and 10 digs for her first career double-double.  Allen recorded an attack percentage of .188 in her first career start.  Junior Eleonora Kazarian (Tibilisi, Georgia/College of Central Florida) also added 11 kills and led the group's hit percentage at .233.
 
Senior setter Gigi Meyer (Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz High School) facilitated the strong offensive effort with 39 assists in the win.
 
Defensively, senior libero Whitney Masters (Muncie, Ind./Wapahani High School) led the team with 12 digs, with the team's blocking effort led by classmate Olivia Mesner (Boca Raton, Fla./Spanish River High School).  Mesner contributed four block assists to the team's eight total.
 
The Hatters opened the match at Alico with a strong offensive presence and quickly took a 6-4 lead.  A block from Mesner and Kazarian cut the Eagle deficit to one point and swung the momentum into FGCU's favor.  Following the block, the Eagles produced an 8-1 run to take a 13-8 lead and force a Stetson timeout.
 
The Eagles maintained the lead and extended it to a comfortable 21-13 but watched as the Hatters sparked a comeback.  Two-consecutive blocks by the Hatters fueled an 8-1 run for Stetson to bring the score to 24-22.  Following an FGCU timeout, the Hatters brought the score within one point, but a Barnes kill sealed the set at 25-23 to give the home team a 1-0 advantage.
 
The opening portion of the second set proved to be a fight for the Eagles as the teams tied seven times between the sixth and 13th points.  Following a knot at 13-13, the Green and Blue used a string of Hatter errors to go on a 7-1 run and take the lead at 20-14.  Despite a Hatter charge, the Eagles maintained a six-point lead and went ahead 2-0 in the match with a 25-19 win.
 
After the intermission, the Hatters jumped out to an 8-4 lead to begin the third set. The Eagles chipped away at the deficit to bring the score to 10-9 but a 5-1 run for the Hatters increased their lead to five points and forced Botsford to call timeout.
 
A kill from Allen sparked an 8-3 run for the Eagles to tie the set at 18-18 and set the match up for a spectacular finish. The teams traded points and tied at each point between 21 and 28, with the Eagles facing set point five times.  Each time the Hatters took a one-point lead, the Eagles responded to tie the set and keep the match alive.
 
With a 28-27 deficit, Allen tied the set at 28 with a kill from the left side before a kill from Kazarian put the Eagles ahead.  The Hatter's next attack attempt fell just outside the lines to give the Eagles the ultimate advantage at 30-28 and seal the match victory at 3-0.
 
The third set saw seven kills from Kazarian and six from Barnes to contribute to the team's match-high total of 21. The team also produced a match-high attack percentage of .364 in the thrilling victory.
 
UP NEXT
The the Eagles will continue the quest for the Atlantic Sun Conference championship with two more home games next weekend. The team will host the University of North Florida on Friday, Oct. 3 and will take on Jacksonville on Saturday, Oct. 4.  The UNF bout is slated for 7 p.m., while Saturday's contest is scheduled for 6 p.m.