The Florida Gulf Coast University volleyball team swept Stetson 3-0 to open Atlantic Sun Conference play in DeLand, Florida Tuesday. This was the Eagles' 34th win over the Hatters in 36 meetings.

"After a slow start I thought our players did a nice job of managing the game and playing a much cleaner brand of volleyball," head coach Matt Botsford said. "Skylar and Shelby were excellent in both serve receive and attack and that helped steady us. Destiny was outstanding off the bench and I thought her blocking setup helped our floor defense a lot."

In the first set, Stetson (3-9, 0-1 ASUN)  led 8-3 but the Eagles (9-3, 1-0 ASUN) responded with a 16-10 rally that featured four kills from Shelby Kent to take the lead to 19-18. From there, the Eagles never looked back, outscoring the Hatters 6-1 off three attacks from Skylar English to take the first set with a 25-19 victory.

The Eagles took control early in the second set with a 14-3 advantage as Ava Smith and Destiny Nelson delivered a pair of kills each. Stetson could not find an answer and the Green & Blue quickly released an offensive barrage of 11 points compared to the Hatters' five  to fly away with a  25-8 win. The Eagles held Stetson to a 0.036 attacking percentage.

In the third set, SU jumped out with a 4-1 advantage but the Eagles showed their dominance once again with a 12-4 run as the Hatters had six attack errors for the Eagles to take the lead, 13-8. Stetson tried making a comeback with a mini 5-2 rally to close the gap to 15-13, but the Hatters' effort still didn't stand a chance as the Eagles ended all hope of a fourth set with a 10-4 run with two kills each from Smith and Kent to take a 25-17 win.

English had a double-double of 13 kills and 11 digs with four aces, while Shelby Kent registered a game-high17 kills with nine digs and Shanelle Puetz had 26 assists.

The Eagles return home Friday at 7 p.m. to host Queens University of Charlotte. Tickets are available by clicking here.
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