Beach Volleyball March 29, 2019 Athletic Communications

Hatters Drop Three at FIU Surf and Turf

Darby Dunn wins her 70th career match

Miami Beach, Fla. -- The 10th-ranked Stetson beach volleyball team came within a few points of recording a pair of upsets Friday but ultimately fell to three Top 10 opponents at the FIU Surf and Turf Invitational on Miami's South Beach.

The Hatters (16-7) fell just two points short in a 3-2 loss to No. 8 FIU (9-5) and just three points short in a 3-2 loss to No. 4 LSU (14-5). In the final match of the day, Stetson dropped a 5-0 decision to No. 1 UCLA as the Bruins (19-0) remained perfect on the season.

"It was a tough day for us," Stetson head coach Kristina Hernandez said. "For FIU and LSU, they were the more consistent team in those bigger moments, and that ended up being the difference. UCLA is the number one team in the country, but I think we didn't bounce back as quickly as we would have liked after the tough morning that we had."

Stetson's 2 seed and 3 seed each came away with a pair of victories on Friday. At the 2 seed, Sammee Thomas and Darby Dunn won 21-13, 21-12 against FIU's Nina Petranovic and Ali Denney. With the victory, Dunn became the fourth player in school history to record 70 career victories. The pair then defeated LSU's Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope and Olivia Powers 21-18, 21-15 for their ninth win against ranked opponents this season.

At the 3 seed, Rachel Noble and Ana Costa won 23-21, 12-21, 15-13 against FIU's Dorina and Ronja Klinger. The pair then defeated LSU's Kelli Agnew and Toni Rodriguez 13-21, 23-21, 15-6 for their eighth win against ranked opponents this season.

Alexa Richardson and Yasmin Kuck also defeated FIU at the 6 seed 21-14, 21-19.

The Hatters will look to bounce back Saturday against Tulane and No. 20 TCU.

FIU 3, Stetson 2
1. BIANCHIN, Margherita/FRASCA, Federica (FIU) def. Sunniva Helland-Hansen/Carly Perales (STET) 21-17, 19-21, 16-14
2. Sammee Thomas/Darby Dunn (STET) def. PETRANOVIC, Nina/DENNEY, Ali (FIU) 21-13, 21-12
3. Ana Costa/Rachel Noble (STET) def. KLINGER, Dorina/KLINGER, Ronja (FIU) 23-21, 12-21, 15-13
4. ZEMBYLA. Erika/BERNIER, Lina (FIU) def. Samantha Harris/Julie Varga (STET) 21-15, 21-18
5. FRIESEN, Katie/BESTERFIELD, Madison (FIU) def. Quinci Birker/Rebecca Ingram (STET) 21-16, 22-20
Ext. Yasmin Kuck/Alexa Richardson (STET) def. (FIU) 21-14, 21-19

LSU 3, Stetson 2
1. Claire Coppola/Kristen Nuss (LSU) def. Sunniva Helland-Hansen/Carly Perales (STET) 21-10, 21-13
2. Sammee Thomas/Darby Dunn (STET) def. Ashlyn Rasnick-Pope/Olivia Powers (LSU) 21-18, 21-15
3. Rachel Noble/Ana Costa (STET) def. Kelli Agnew/Toni Rodriguez (LSU) 13-21, 23-21, 15-6
4. Olivia Beyer/Maddie Ligon (LSU) def. Julie Varga/Samantha Harris (STET) 21-17, 21-19
5. Hunter Domanski/Allison Coens (LSU) def. Quinci Birker/Rebecca Ingram (STET) 21-23, 21-18, 15-12
Ext. (LSU) def. Alexa Richardson/Yasmin Kuck (STET) 21-18, 21-19

UCLA 5, Stetson 0
1. Nicole Mcnamara/Megan Mcnamara (UCLA) def. Sunniva Helland-Hansen/Carly Perales (STET) 21-13, 21-12
2. Lily Justine/Sarah Sponcil (UCLA) def. Sammee Thomas/Darby Dunn (STET) 21-14, 21-16
3. Zana Muno/Abby Van Winkle (UCLA) def. Rachel Noble/Ana Costa (STET) 21-15, 21-15
4. Savy Simo/Lea Monkhouse (UCLA) def. Julie Varga/Samantha Harris (STET) 21-11, 21-8
5. Izzy Carey/Lindsey Sparks (UCLA) def. Rebecca Ingram/Quinci Birker (STET) 21-10, 21-15
Ext. Megan Muret/Madi Yeomans (UCLA) def. Alexa Richardson/Yasmin Kuck (STET) 21-13, 21-17

About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.

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