HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – No. 3 seed Florida Gulf Coast (20-16) battled but came up short, 3-0 to No. 1 seed Stetson (26-9) in the ASUN semifinal on Friday morning.

"Nothing takes the pain away from a loss that close, just like the other day," head coach Chris Sweat said. "But I want to say thank you to our seniors for absolutely battling today and leaving it all on the court, with all three of them leading in the third set. I couldn't have asked for a better group."

The Hatters, ranked No. 14 in the AVCA Coaches Poll, took wins in straight sets on courts 1 and 5 to go up 2-0 to open the match. Kaitlyn Beck and Kristina Gluc delivered a set win for FGCU, 21-18 on court 4. Nicole De Oliveira and Erin Miller fought back after losing the first set to force a third set with a 24-22 second set victory on court 2.

The duel ultimately came down to court 3. The Eagles dropped a close first set to the Hatters. In the second set, though, FGCU led 17-15, on the cusp of sending the match to a winner-take-all final set when Sydney Majick was shaken up while diving for a dig. Majick remained in the match, but Stetson promptly tied the match at 17-17. Majick and Andrea Dietz continued fighting, taking a point to retake an 18-17 lead, but Stetson answered with a 3-0 run to get a 20-18 match and duel point. Majick and Dietz forced a Hatters error to draw back within 20-19, but Stetson scored to win the match and duel.

De Oliveira and Miller had a lead in their third set, as did Beck and Gluc when the match ended, played to clinch. 

De Oliveira, Beck and Gluc concluded their careers on Friday. De Oliveira finished her career with 79 wins, tied for the third-most in program history with Trinity Rosales. Beck totaled 80 wins between FGCU and Louisiana Monroe, and Gluc ended with 38 across just over two full seasons of competition.

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