Last season, the Eagles, went 27-6 overall with an 11-3 conference record in the A-SUN, and made it to the finals of the A-SUN Conference Volleyball Tournament as the No. 3 seed, but would fall to the defending champions: Lipscomb University.
FGCU is led by Matt Botsford, who will be coaching in his fourth season as head coach for FGCU. Botsford is also joined by assistant coaches Kim Maroon and Daniel Mahy.
Last season, FGCU had a number of firsts that made them successful:
1. With the 27-6 record, FGCU set a new DI program record for wins in a season.
2. FGCU had 17 shutout wins, which tied for the most by FGCU in D1 history. Their previous amount of shutouts was 11.
3. FGCU had the longest active win streak in the nation with 15 wins after Nebraska snapped their 28 match winning streak after a loss to conference rival Ohio State.
4. They climbed to an RPI of 58 in 2016, the highest in history for FGCU volleyball.
5. In conference play, FGCU played Lipscomb and beat them for the first time since 2012.
Even with the firsts, the team has changed this upcoming season.
FGCU lost five players: outside hitter Leigh Pudwill, defensive specialist Caroline Jordan, setter Marina Adami, and middle blocker Marlene Moeller have departed after graduating from FGCU.
Moeller, Pudwill and Jordan were also members of the beach volleyball team too.
Sophomore middle blocker Bailey Johnson has also departed from FGCU and transferred to NCAA DII San Francisco State University of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) conference.
FGCU did manage to sign four newcomers, including junior college transfer Sharonda Pickering and high school recruit Snowy Burnam to play this upcoming season.
Prior to her arrival at FGCU, Pickering, a middle blocker, spent her first two years at Hillsborough Community College (HCC) where she was second in kills (218) and led the Hawks in total blocks (123). The 6'2" native of Sea Cow Bay, British Virgin Islands will be playing on the team with two years of eligibility remaining and can backup Serrano just in case.
Burnam, a native of Jensen Beach, Florida, can play three positions: outside hitter, opposite hitter aka right side hitter and setter. The true freshman comes from Jensen Beach High School and the FHSAA 6A Florida Dairy Farmer Player of the Year has recently competed in the 2016 European Global Challenge where she took first place and was named on the All-Tournament Team there. It's not clear which position Burnam will be positioned at during the season, so I don't know what to expect from Botsford of where he puts her.
Some of the key returners for FGCU include juniors outside hitter Amanda Carroll, junior setter Maggie Rick, sophomore middle blocker Danielle "Dani" Serrano, sophomore outside hitter Giovanna "GioGio" Borgiotti and senior libero Courtney Stephens.
Outside hitter Ciara "Ci" DeBell and middle blocker Morgan Waller will also make their returns to the court, but as redshirt freshman.
After suffering a season ending knee injury that happened during the home match against Indiana, DeBell was eligible for a medical redshirt and is still able to maintain all four years of eligibility.
Waller never played last season and sat out the whole season due to injury. Waller, like DeBell, will also maintain her four years of eligibility, so technically, Waller will be making her season debut.
After coming off another successful year, Carroll has been a force to be reckoned with. A former A-SUN Freshman of the Year, A-SUN First Team All-Conference selection, A-SUN All-Academic Team selection, A-SUN Second Team All-Conference selection and former A-SUN All-Freshman Team selection, the Albuquerque, New Mexico native has made her mark strongly for FGCU. Last season, Carroll set a season program record with 485 total kills. She has already surpassed Olympian and former FGCU volleyball player, Brooke Youngquist-Sweat, by almost 40 kills and has a career total of 900 kills in her first two years. Carroll also led the team with 39 services aces, hence earning the nickname I called her: "Mrs. Aces". If she continues this domination, she could break Youngquist-Sweat's career record of 1,167 career kills and might even try to attempt the NCAA career kills record set by former George Washington University player, Svetlana Vtyurina (3,043). Carroll was also recently tabbed as an A-SUN representative to the Division I National Student-Athlete Advisory Committees (SAACs), selected to the U.S. Collegiate National Team-Indianapolis program and earned the AVCA All-Southeast Region Honorable Mention.
Rick also comes off another successful season herself. The setter and native of Alpharetta, Georgia was named A-Sun Setter of the Year after tallying 10.67 assists per match and supposedly set a single match Division I program record with 64 assists last season. In her freshman year, Rick tallied 67 assists in one match and I think this was really the record. Rick is set to defend her title reign as the A-SUN Setter of the year.
Serrano now follows the footsteps of Moeller. After starting all 33 matches and earning A-Sun All-Freshman Team honors last season, the Sanford, Florida native set strides through each match last season including a career high 10 blocks against USC Upstate. Serrano led FGCU and finished second in the A-Sun with 107 total blocks last season to go with her 154 kills she provided.
After DeBell's season ending injury, Borgiotti stepped in to take her place while DeBell was recovering. A native of Vienna, Virginia, Borgiotti played a crucial role after starting 16 of her 28 matches played. Borgiotti ended her freshman year with 210 kills (third most on the team) including a game high 16 kills against Bethune, thus earning A-SUN All-Freshman Team honors.
Stephens is currently the only senior on the team, but will probably rotate the libero position with junior outside hitter Karissa Rhoades. Stephens had 338 digs and was close to trying to break the digs per set single season record held by Maroon (6.87 digs per set). Stephens had a season best 3.37 digs per set last season and even got two kills, which surprised me aside the fact that the Winter Park Native is 5'4". I get a laugh for that sometimes.
I talk to the former Villanova University libero, who set the digs per set record, after a meet and greet party with the volleyball team about the record she set and she told me "I want Courtney (Stephens) to try and break the record."
Now part of me is puzzled. Why did coach Maroon want Courtney to break her record?
The teams FGCU will be playing against at home, for non-conference matchups, are Miami, FIU, Georgia Southern, Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis (IUPUI), UCF, Bethune and FAU.
I already heard that we would play Indiana in a rematch, and it is confirmed that it will be at the University of Indiana in the Hoosier Classic, which will also include UNLV and Samford University there too.
FGCU will also play in Wildcat Classic hosted by Davidson University. The classic will also include Wofford University and the University of Georgia.
It's obvious we played Bethune-Cookman, FAU and FIU before. The last time we met all three teams, FGCU beat FAU 3-2 at the FAU Tournament in Boca Raton, FIU 3-1 at home and won both matches against Bethune: 3-0 away and 3-1 at home.
The teams that FGCU are playing for the first time since joining D1 in 2007 are Wofford, Samford and Davidson.
UCF, seemingly one of our toughest opponents, was 23-10 overall with a 13-7 record in the AAC last season. Their conference record finished them in third place and since they is no conference tournament for volleyball in the AAC, they did not make it to the national tournament. UCF is led by Todd Dagenais, who enters into his ninth season as head coach.
The Golden Knights will lose outside hitters Jalé Hervey and Taylor Gallert, but have signed four upcoming freshman to join the team.
Key returning players will include redshirt senior Kia Bright, juniors Miranda Watkins and Jordan Pingel and sophomore Jeanie Westney.
Last season, Bright, an outside hitter was second in kills (303), and the Starke, Florida native that transferred from Auburn University was named a member of the Holiday Inn Orlando East UCF Area Invitational's All-Tournament Team.
Watkins, a setter from Tallahassee, had 714 assists last season.
Pingel, the libero from Colorado Springs, Colorado, led the team with 554 digs last season. During the past season, the junior was named MVP of the Saluki Invitational at the University of Southern Illinois and recorded 1,000 career digs her sophomore year.
Westney, a middle blocker from Washington D.C. finished second in the AAC in total blocks with 126 and was also named a member of the Holiday Inn Orlando East UCF Area Invitational's All-Tournament Team with Bright.
In the series between UCF and FGCU, UCF leads 2-1. The lone win FGCU had against the Golden Knights was in 2008 at UCF.
Miami was 15-17 overall with a 9-11 record in the ACC. Miami finished in eighth place and like the ACC, there was no conference tournament. It was only one of two bad seasons.
Miami is led by Jose "Keno" Gandara, who enters his fourth year as head coach.
The Hurricanes lost no players last season, but they have signed upcoming freshman outside hitter Cameron Dobbs.
Key returning players to look out for are senior Olga Strantzali and juniors Hannah Sorensen and Lucia Pampana.
Strantzali, an outside hitter, lead the team in kills (586), digs (309) and service aces (48). A native of Pylaia, Greece and a transfer from UCLA, Strantzali was an All-ACC First Team member and a two time All-Tournament Team member (Kansas State Wildcat Classic in Manhattan, Kansas and the Delaware Blue Hens Invitational in Newark, Delaware).
Sorensen, a setter from Sandy, Utah, lead the team with 970 assists.
Pampana, an outside hitter from Modena, Italy, lead the team in blocks with 102 and was fourth on the team in kills (180).
Haak, an outside hitter from Angelholm, Sweden was second on the team in kills (395), digs (290) and service aces (21).
In the series between the Hurricanes and the Eagles, FGCU is 0-2 against Miami.
Wofford was 17-15 overall with a 9-7 record in the SoCon last season. They made it to the SoCon Volleyball, but fell in the quarterfinals to Samford.
Wofford is led by Lynze Roos, who enters her third season as head coach.
The Terriers have lost outside hitter Ellie Tallman, but have gained four upcoming freshman and a transfer from Ole Miss.
Returning players to look out for are sophomores, Cate Cronsiter, Madeline Savage and Lorissa King and junior Colleen Riley.
Cronsiter, an outside hitter, led the team in kills (407), service aces (45) and digs (311) last season as a sophomore. Recently, the Chicago native was named the Rayna Taylor Freshman of the Year and a member of the All-SoCon Second Team and SoCon All-Freshman Team .
Savage, a libero and defensive specialist from Johns Creek, Georgia, led the team in digs (478).
King, a setter from Windermere, Florida, led the team in assists (903).
Riley, a middle blocker had 323 kills and led the team in blocks (105). The Chicago native was named a member of the All-SoCon First Team.
This is the first time FGCU and Wofford will play each other.
Georgia was 13-18 overall with a 1-17 record in the SEC last season.
The Bulldogs will be led by first year head coach and seventh Bulldog head coach, Tom Black.
Some sports fans would think Georgia would be pretty good at all their sports, but I guess when it comes to volleyball it's probably a different story. The Bulldogs will lose middle blocker Desiree McCray, libero Elle McCord and opposite hitter Megan Spencer, but have signed six upcoming freshman.
Nevertheless, returning players to watch for from the Bulldogs include seniors Maddie Lobenstein and Cassidy Anderson, sophomore Meghan Donovan and junior Majesti Bass.
Lobenstein, an outside hitter, led the team in kills (335) last season and the Madison, Wisconsin native was named MVP of the Benson Hospitality Invitational and to the Beantown Challenge All-Tournament Team,
Anderson, the libero/defensive specialist, led the team in digs (408) and service aces (40), and the native of Louisville, Kentucky was ranked in the top 75 of the NCAA and sixth in the SEC with .36 aces per set. During the season, Anderson earned all-tournament honors at the Benson Invitational, Georgia Challenge and Bulldog Invite.
Donovan, a setter out of St. Louis, led the team in assists (1104).
Bass, the middle blocker out of Conyers, Georgia, was second in blocks last season (89) and also made an appearance at the USA Volleyball’s Women’s National Team Open tryouts. The same time as Carroll.
IUPUI was 12-20 overall with a 8-8 record in the Summit League. They made it to the quarterfinals, but fell to North Dakota State. The Jaguars are led by head coach Steve Payne. Payne enters into his 21st season as IUPUI's head coach.
IUPUI will lose setter Alexis Mapes and middle blocker Logan Walling, but signed three upcoming freshman.
For the Jaguars, returning players to keep eyes out for are seniors Kori Waelbroeck, Gabby Fisher and Jessica Helms and sophomore Abby Boatman.
Waelbroeck, an opposite hitter, led the team in kills (389), and the Evansville, Indiana native was selected as an Academic All-Summit League honoree, named to the Shocker Volleyball Classic All-Tournament team and earned All-Summit League honors.
Fisher, an outside hitter, finished second to Waelbroeck in kills (354) and led the team in service aces (33). The Martinsville, Indiana native was named to the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational All-Tournament team and the Summit League All-Tournament Team.
As a defensive specialist, Helms led the team in digs (414) and was third in service aces (21). The Muncie, Indiana native was named to the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational All-Tournament team
Boatman, a middle blocker, led the team in blocks (111) to go with her 185 kills.
The last time FGCU and IUPUI met was in 2013. The Jaguars won the matchup 3-0.
Led by Dustin Wood, who enters his sixth season as head coach, Georgia Southern was 15-18 overall with a 7-9 record in the Sun Belt Conference. GSU fell to Costal Carolina in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
GSU will lose redshirt seniors setter Katie Bange and defensive specialist Alex Beecher, but have signed nine newcomers for the team (8 from high school and one transfer from UTEP).
Returning key players for GSU include upcoming senior Cathrine Murray and juniors Kendra Koetter and Lauren Reichard.
Murray, an outside hitter, was second behind Bange team in kills (277) and The native of San Diego is one of four Eagles that had at least 20 service aces (23).
Koetter, a setter from Marietta, Georgia, led the team in assists (626).
Reichard, the middle blocker from Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, led the team in total blocks (136) and was third behind Benge in kills (266).
The Davidson Wildcats were 10-19 overall with a 5-9 record in the A-10 Conference before falling in the A-10 quarterfinals to Saint Louis.
The team led by Chris Willis, who enters into his seventh year as head coach.
The Wildcats will lose setter Mikayla Derochie, middle blocker Emily Franklin and junior Sabrina Sheppard, but have signed three upcoming freshman.
Key returners to look at include senior Kelly Friers and junior Mason Rooney.
Friers, a middle blocker from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, led the team in kills (247).
Rooney, setter and opposite hitter from Atlanta, was second on the team in assists (352).
As noted, this will be the first time FGCU and Davidson will play each other for the first time.
Last season, the Samford Bulldogs were 21-14 overall with a 9-7 record in the SoCon. Samford won the SoCon Tournament and made it to the national tournament falling to No. 4 Kansas in the first round. Samford is led by head coach Keylor Chan. Chan is entering his second season as head coach.
Samford will lose five seniors: Outside Hitter Erin Bognar, setter Erika Pifer, middle blocker Kiahna Wicks, opposite hitter Gabbi Greenwald and libero Mattie Newson, but have signed seven newcomers (six from high school and one transfer from Middle Tennessee)
Key returners for Samford include redshirt junior Kate Neisler, junior Taylor Anderton, sophomore Grace Tiesman and redshirt senior T.J. Russell.
Neisler, an outside hitter from Jacksonville, Alabama, was second on the team in kills (303) and service aces (27).
Anderton, a setter from Collierville, Tennessee, was second in assists (435).
Tiesman, an outside hitter and defensive specialist from Wheaton, Illinois, led the team in digs (487).
Russell, a middle blocker from Montgomery, Alabama, led the team in total blocks (95).
This is the first time we will play two SoCon teams this year.
The University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) was 24-8 overall with a 12-6 record in the Mountain West Conference (MWC). They claimed the regular season and automatically qualified in the national tournament since there is no conference tournament in the MWC. The Rebels won the first round match against No. 22 Utah before falling in the second round to No. 10 Brigham Young (BYU). UNLV is led by head coach Cindy Fredrick. Fredrick enters her sixth season as head coach.
The Rebels will lose setter Natalie Bulen, middle blocker Bree Hammel, liberos Carly Riehl and Elisa Woinowsky and outside hitters Sadie Stutzmanand and Alyssa Wing, but have signed nine newcomers (eight from high school and one transfer from University of North Texas).
Key returning players for the Rebels include seniors Alexis Patterson and Ashley Owens and junior Elsa Descamps.
Patterson, a setter from Phoenix, led the team in assists (1258). Paterson was named on the Mountain West All-Conference Team.
Owens, a middle blocker from Amarillo, Texas, was second on the team in blocks (130).
Descamps, a native of Toulouse, France and the other middle blocker, led the team in blocks (148).
I guess from FGCU's opponents, you could say Davidson would be the easiest and UCF would be the toughest.
In my opinion from the non-conference teams outside of Florida we're playing, this is the order from easiest to toughest:
1. Georgia
2. Davidson
3. Georgia Southern
4. Miami
5. Wofford
6. Samford
7. UCF
8. UNLV
It is certain that the Hoosiers are looking for payback after losing last season to FGCU, so you could expect that they are licking their chops for the rematch.
I've been to a lot of FGCU's volleyball matches and I have not miss one match at home since I've been enrolled at FGCU.
I remember the first season match I went to. We played the University of New Orleans of the Southland Conference and in front of 904 people, FGCU won that matchup 3-0.
At that time, they had two players I knew of from College of Central Florida (CCF) were playing and they were seniors: libero Vanessa Benke and outside hitter Eleonora Kazarian.
It was the first and only season I got to see them play when I arrived at FGCU my first year.
During the matchup with Indiana, I witnessed DeBell hurt her knee and I thought, with her gone, we were gonna lose the matchup, but with strong contribution from Rhoades and rotating in Moeller, Serrano and then sophomore Kaiti Krivdo, FGCU managed to beat the Hoosiers 3-2 (25-17, 28-26, 17-25, 22-25 and 15-12) in front of over 900 fans in attendance.
So far, the most fans I've seen at FGCU volleyball since I was there was 945 and that was the Indiana match.
I was there during the senior night matches for Benke, Kazarian in 2015 and for Pudwill, Jordan, Adami and Moeller in 2016, and now I will see Stephens play her final season.
Of course, I've had my fair share of conflicts of interest in volleyball. There were three teams I was worried about while I was enrolled at FGCU: FAU, UNF and Bethune-Cookman. The question that buzzes around is "Why?" The answer is this: I knew a player from each of the three teams that went to my junior college, SCF. During a match between FGCU and FAU, I knew that some of the Dirty Birds were going to heckle one of the players I know really hard, and it worried me, but just like I did at SCF, I rooted for my team and stuck to it since then. Two weights were lifted off my shoulder from the past two seasons: the players from FAU and UNF graduated, but the player from Bethune will play us one more time. It's fine though.
I would love for more fans to come to more volleyball matches at FGCU. Volleyball matches are so energizing and exciting. There is so much action in the matches. Of course, the top universities in the nation that have phenomenal programs are higher above from what we have, especially teams like Penn State, Nebraska, UCLA, Hawaii and Minnesota just to name a few top programs.
Cronsiter, an outside hitter, led the team in kills (407), service aces (45) and digs (311) last season as a sophomore. Recently, the Chicago native was named the Rayna Taylor Freshman of the Year and a member of the All-SoCon Second Team and SoCon All-Freshman Team .
Savage, a libero and defensive specialist from Johns Creek, Georgia, led the team in digs (478).
King, a setter from Windermere, Florida, led the team in assists (903).
Riley, a middle blocker had 323 kills and led the team in blocks (105). The Chicago native was named a member of the All-SoCon First Team.
This is the first time FGCU and Wofford will play each other.
Georgia was 13-18 overall with a 1-17 record in the SEC last season.
The Bulldogs will be led by first year head coach and seventh Bulldog head coach, Tom Black.
Some sports fans would think Georgia would be pretty good at all their sports, but I guess when it comes to volleyball it's probably a different story. The Bulldogs will lose middle blocker Desiree McCray, libero Elle McCord and opposite hitter Megan Spencer, but have signed six upcoming freshman.
Nevertheless, returning players to watch for from the Bulldogs include seniors Maddie Lobenstein and Cassidy Anderson, sophomore Meghan Donovan and junior Majesti Bass.
Lobenstein, an outside hitter, led the team in kills (335) last season and the Madison, Wisconsin native was named MVP of the Benson Hospitality Invitational and to the Beantown Challenge All-Tournament Team,
Anderson, the libero/defensive specialist, led the team in digs (408) and service aces (40), and the native of Louisville, Kentucky was ranked in the top 75 of the NCAA and sixth in the SEC with .36 aces per set. During the season, Anderson earned all-tournament honors at the Benson Invitational, Georgia Challenge and Bulldog Invite.
Donovan, a setter out of St. Louis, led the team in assists (1104).
Bass, the middle blocker out of Conyers, Georgia, was second in blocks last season (89) and also made an appearance at the USA Volleyball’s Women’s National Team Open tryouts. The same time as Carroll.
IUPUI was 12-20 overall with a 8-8 record in the Summit League. They made it to the quarterfinals, but fell to North Dakota State. The Jaguars are led by head coach Steve Payne. Payne enters into his 21st season as IUPUI's head coach.
IUPUI will lose setter Alexis Mapes and middle blocker Logan Walling, but signed three upcoming freshman.
For the Jaguars, returning players to keep eyes out for are seniors Kori Waelbroeck, Gabby Fisher and Jessica Helms and sophomore Abby Boatman.
Waelbroeck, an opposite hitter, led the team in kills (389), and the Evansville, Indiana native was selected as an Academic All-Summit League honoree, named to the Shocker Volleyball Classic All-Tournament team and earned All-Summit League honors.
Fisher, an outside hitter, finished second to Waelbroeck in kills (354) and led the team in service aces (33). The Martinsville, Indiana native was named to the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational All-Tournament team and the Summit League All-Tournament Team.
As a defensive specialist, Helms led the team in digs (414) and was third in service aces (21). The Muncie, Indiana native was named to the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational All-Tournament team
Boatman, a middle blocker, led the team in blocks (111) to go with her 185 kills.
The last time FGCU and IUPUI met was in 2013. The Jaguars won the matchup 3-0.
Led by Dustin Wood, who enters his sixth season as head coach, Georgia Southern was 15-18 overall with a 7-9 record in the Sun Belt Conference. GSU fell to Costal Carolina in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
GSU will lose redshirt seniors setter Katie Bange and defensive specialist Alex Beecher, but have signed nine newcomers for the team (8 from high school and one transfer from UTEP).
Returning key players for GSU include upcoming senior Cathrine Murray and juniors Kendra Koetter and Lauren Reichard.
Murray, an outside hitter, was second behind Bange team in kills (277) and The native of San Diego is one of four Eagles that had at least 20 service aces (23).
Koetter, a setter from Marietta, Georgia, led the team in assists (626).
Reichard, the middle blocker from Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, led the team in total blocks (136) and was third behind Benge in kills (266).
The Davidson Wildcats were 10-19 overall with a 5-9 record in the A-10 Conference before falling in the A-10 quarterfinals to Saint Louis.
The team led by Chris Willis, who enters into his seventh year as head coach.
The Wildcats will lose setter Mikayla Derochie, middle blocker Emily Franklin and junior Sabrina Sheppard, but have signed three upcoming freshman.
Key returners to look at include senior Kelly Friers and junior Mason Rooney.
Friers, a middle blocker from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, led the team in kills (247).
Rooney, setter and opposite hitter from Atlanta, was second on the team in assists (352).
As noted, this will be the first time FGCU and Davidson will play each other for the first time.
Last season, the Samford Bulldogs were 21-14 overall with a 9-7 record in the SoCon. Samford won the SoCon Tournament and made it to the national tournament falling to No. 4 Kansas in the first round. Samford is led by head coach Keylor Chan. Chan is entering his second season as head coach.
Samford will lose five seniors: Outside Hitter Erin Bognar, setter Erika Pifer, middle blocker Kiahna Wicks, opposite hitter Gabbi Greenwald and libero Mattie Newson, but have signed seven newcomers (six from high school and one transfer from Middle Tennessee)
Key returners for Samford include redshirt junior Kate Neisler, junior Taylor Anderton, sophomore Grace Tiesman and redshirt senior T.J. Russell.
Neisler, an outside hitter from Jacksonville, Alabama, was second on the team in kills (303) and service aces (27).
Anderton, a setter from Collierville, Tennessee, was second in assists (435).
Tiesman, an outside hitter and defensive specialist from Wheaton, Illinois, led the team in digs (487).
Russell, a middle blocker from Montgomery, Alabama, led the team in total blocks (95).
This is the first time we will play two SoCon teams this year.
The University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) was 24-8 overall with a 12-6 record in the Mountain West Conference (MWC). They claimed the regular season and automatically qualified in the national tournament since there is no conference tournament in the MWC. The Rebels won the first round match against No. 22 Utah before falling in the second round to No. 10 Brigham Young (BYU). UNLV is led by head coach Cindy Fredrick. Fredrick enters her sixth season as head coach.
The Rebels will lose setter Natalie Bulen, middle blocker Bree Hammel, liberos Carly Riehl and Elisa Woinowsky and outside hitters Sadie Stutzmanand and Alyssa Wing, but have signed nine newcomers (eight from high school and one transfer from University of North Texas).
Key returning players for the Rebels include seniors Alexis Patterson and Ashley Owens and junior Elsa Descamps.
Patterson, a setter from Phoenix, led the team in assists (1258). Paterson was named on the Mountain West All-Conference Team.
Owens, a middle blocker from Amarillo, Texas, was second on the team in blocks (130).
Descamps, a native of Toulouse, France and the other middle blocker, led the team in blocks (148).
I guess from FGCU's opponents, you could say Davidson would be the easiest and UCF would be the toughest.
In my opinion from the non-conference teams outside of Florida we're playing, this is the order from easiest to toughest:
1. Georgia
2. Davidson
3. Georgia Southern
4. Miami
5. Wofford
6. Samford
7. UCF
8. UNLV
It is certain that the Hoosiers are looking for payback after losing last season to FGCU, so you could expect that they are licking their chops for the rematch.
I've been to a lot of FGCU's volleyball matches and I have not miss one match at home since I've been enrolled at FGCU.
I remember the first season match I went to. We played the University of New Orleans of the Southland Conference and in front of 904 people, FGCU won that matchup 3-0.
At that time, they had two players I knew of from College of Central Florida (CCF) were playing and they were seniors: libero Vanessa Benke and outside hitter Eleonora Kazarian.
It was the first and only season I got to see them play when I arrived at FGCU my first year.
During the matchup with Indiana, I witnessed DeBell hurt her knee and I thought, with her gone, we were gonna lose the matchup, but with strong contribution from Rhoades and rotating in Moeller, Serrano and then sophomore Kaiti Krivdo, FGCU managed to beat the Hoosiers 3-2 (25-17, 28-26, 17-25, 22-25 and 15-12) in front of over 900 fans in attendance.
So far, the most fans I've seen at FGCU volleyball since I was there was 945 and that was the Indiana match.
I was there during the senior night matches for Benke, Kazarian in 2015 and for Pudwill, Jordan, Adami and Moeller in 2016, and now I will see Stephens play her final season.
Of course, I've had my fair share of conflicts of interest in volleyball. There were three teams I was worried about while I was enrolled at FGCU: FAU, UNF and Bethune-Cookman. The question that buzzes around is "Why?" The answer is this: I knew a player from each of the three teams that went to my junior college, SCF. During a match between FGCU and FAU, I knew that some of the Dirty Birds were going to heckle one of the players I know really hard, and it worried me, but just like I did at SCF, I rooted for my team and stuck to it since then. Two weights were lifted off my shoulder from the past two seasons: the players from FAU and UNF graduated, but the player from Bethune will play us one more time. It's fine though.
I would love for more fans to come to more volleyball matches at FGCU. Volleyball matches are so energizing and exciting. There is so much action in the matches. Of course, the top universities in the nation that have phenomenal programs are higher above from what we have, especially teams like Penn State, Nebraska, UCLA, Hawaii and Minnesota just to name a few top programs.
FGCU will start their season opener at home after Eagle Revolution with the FGCU Hilton Garden Inn Invitational. They will face FIU on Friday at 7 pm and will play Georgia Southern at 11 am and IUPUI at 7 pm on Saturday. This will be during the first week of classes for students.
The next weekend, they will host the FGCU Homewood Suites Classic and face UCF on Friday at 7 pm and face FAU at 11 am and Miami at 7 pm on Saturday.
FGCU will then hit the road in September. They will play in the Wildcat Classic against Wofford at 4:30 pm on September 8th and then play Davidson, the host team at noon before wrapping up the classic playing Georgia at 4 pm on September 9th.
The next road trip after will be in the Hoosier Classic. FGCU will play Samford at 5 pm on September 15th and then play UNLV at 10 am before wrapping up the Hoosier Classic by facing host Indiana at 7 pm on September 16th.
They then will finish their road trip with matches against FIU on September 19th and Bethune-Cookman on the September 22nd before the start of conference.
FGCU begins conference on the road against Stetson, Kennesaw State and Lipscomb before taking on USC Upstate, NJIT, JU, UNF in the first four home conference matches.
They will play Bethune-Cookman for one last non-conference home matchup during conference before facing Stetson and going back on the road to face UNF, JU, NJIT and Upstate before finishing the final two home matches against Lipscomb and Kennesaw.
The final home match against Kennesaw will be assumingly senior night for Stephens, the only senior on the team.
With the season opener at home, an interesting fact comes in play: FGCU is 8-2 when playing home opening matches. I think this season is gonna be something for the FGCU volleyball team and I'm really looking forward to it.
Below are photos of me and members of last year's volleyball team.
Tune in for August, as the fall semester will begin for the FGCU athletics with Eagle Revolution.
The next weekend, they will host the FGCU Homewood Suites Classic and face UCF on Friday at 7 pm and face FAU at 11 am and Miami at 7 pm on Saturday.
FGCU will then hit the road in September. They will play in the Wildcat Classic against Wofford at 4:30 pm on September 8th and then play Davidson, the host team at noon before wrapping up the classic playing Georgia at 4 pm on September 9th.
The next road trip after will be in the Hoosier Classic. FGCU will play Samford at 5 pm on September 15th and then play UNLV at 10 am before wrapping up the Hoosier Classic by facing host Indiana at 7 pm on September 16th.
They then will finish their road trip with matches against FIU on September 19th and Bethune-Cookman on the September 22nd before the start of conference.
FGCU begins conference on the road against Stetson, Kennesaw State and Lipscomb before taking on USC Upstate, NJIT, JU, UNF in the first four home conference matches.
They will play Bethune-Cookman for one last non-conference home matchup during conference before facing Stetson and going back on the road to face UNF, JU, NJIT and Upstate before finishing the final two home matches against Lipscomb and Kennesaw.
The final home match against Kennesaw will be assumingly senior night for Stephens, the only senior on the team.
With the season opener at home, an interesting fact comes in play: FGCU is 8-2 when playing home opening matches. I think this season is gonna be something for the FGCU volleyball team and I'm really looking forward to it.
Below are photos of me and members of last year's volleyball team.
Tune in for August, as the fall semester will begin for the FGCU athletics with Eagle Revolution.
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| Me with Caroline "CJ" Jordan |
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| With Leigh Pudwill |
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| With Pudwill (left) and Marlene Moeller (right) |
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| With Morgan Waller |
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| With Ciara "Ci" DeBell |
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| With from left to right: Jordan, Moeller and Kaiti Krivdo |
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| With Giovanna "Gio-Gio" Borgioti |
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| With Amanda Carroll |
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| With Marlene "Mar" Moeller |
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| With Karissa Rhoades |
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| With Maggie Rick |
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| With Danielle "Dani" Serrano |
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| With Marina "MA" Admai |
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| With Courtney Stephens |
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| With Bailey Johnson |
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| With Kaiti Krivdo |
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