Stetson’s Volleyball team continued their winning streak with a sweep of the North Alabama Lions last month.

         After a successful game on Saturday, Oct 19th, Stetson’s women’s volleyball team continued their win streak to make it five strong. The game was held right here at Stetson University in the Edmunds Center, where they hosted the North Alabama Lions. With scores of 25-12, 25-14, 25-18, our Hatters held their own. 

         The court was teeming with excitement from the players and the audience alike. There was certainly no shortage of entertainment. All three sets had fans on the edges of their seats, feeding off of the energy on the court. It was a thrilling back-and-forth affair, especially in the last set. The Lions were not giving up without a good fight, but the Hatters powered through to victory. 

         “We are picking up the tempo of the game overall,” Riley Nieporte said in the official recap of the game. “No matter who is on the other side, we try to keep our pace fast and consistent, and our communication. We are working on the speed, and it’s going really well.” 

         There was a small disturbance halfway through the third set when one of the referees took a volleyball to the face. The room fell silent as the official was helped down from her perch and given a moment to recuperate. It was a tense few minutes, but the referee quickly shook it off and the game carried on. 

         As for individual stats, several members of the team performed well. Outside Hitter (OH) Riley Nieporte (Junior) scored 13 kills, followed by 12 from middle blocker (MB) Kaylee Oscarson (Freshman). Fellow middle blocker Brianna Schmid (Senior) had 9 kills and both Eva Deisa (OH, Senior) and Elena Djokovic (OH, Freshman) followed with 8 for the night. Defensive Specialist Chelcie Spence (Junior) made 12 digs for the evening, with Alejandra Perez (OH, Sophomore) picking up 11. Setter Emily Destaffino (Senior) brought in 9 more digs and 45 assists. With tonight’s game, Destaffino recorded her 1,000th assist, becoming the 12th player in our school’s history to hit 1,000 assists. 

         The volleyball team has had an interesting few weeks since this exciting game. They held their win streak and made it to eight victories before being taken down by FGCU on Friday, Nov 1st. Our ladies brought their A-game and fought to the end, but unfortunately we’re no match for the Eagles.