FGCU Volleyball: Wildcat Classic Update 2

After a seemingly easy shutout over Wofford in the Wildcat Classic, the FGCU volleyball team (5-4) had the toughest battle with host Davidson (5-3) as the Eagles won against the Wildcats 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-12, 15-11), but would be shutout by Georgia 3-0 (20-25, 15-25, 23-25).

The Eagles fought in a tooth and nail match against Wildcats, but managed to keep fighting to the fifth set for the win.

"I really liked the way we played against Davidson, and what was most exciting was the competitive response the team gave when it was put in some tough spots," said FGCU head coach Matt Botsford. "Daniele's performance – both hitting and blocking – had a huge impact in the final result. She opened things up for our offense, and that made life a lot easier for our other hitters."

Freshman outside hitter Cortney VanLiew had a team high 17 kills, two assists seven digs and two blocks.

Junior outside hitter Amanda Carroll had 13 kills, nine digs and four blocks.

Both VanLiew and Carroll had three service aces each.

Sophomore middle blocker Daniele Serrano had 11 kills, five blocks and a dig.

Junior setter Maggie Rick had three kills, five blocks, six digs and 50 assists.

Junior middle blocker Sharonda Pickering had six kills, one assist, one dig and seven blocks.

Junior libero Karissa Rhaodes had 17 digs and four assists

Off the bench, senior defensive specialist Courtney Stephens also had two digs and three service aces, freshman defensive specialist Alayna Ryan had one service ace and one dig, freshman outside hitter Snowy Burnam had one kill and one dig, junior right side hitter Kaiti Krivdo had three kills, a block and two digs and Giovanna Borgiotti had seven kills.

For the Wildcats, senior outside hitter Kelly Friers had a team leading 18 kills, one block and five digs.

Junior setter Mason Rooney had a double-double of 11 kills and 31 assists along with three service aces and six digs.

Sophomore libero Elise Edman had 15 digs and two service aces.

Junior right side hitter Katharine Franz had 10 kills, one assist, one block and three digs.

FGCU outscored Davidson in points (84-70),  kills (61-54), blocks (13-5) and assists (57-51) while Davidson outscored FGCU in aces (11-10) and digs (54-47).

FGCU played Georgia at 4 pm, and this was the second time both FGCU and UGA are playing each other since 2010.

Georgia would come out on top over FGCU depsite the Eagles giving the Bulldogs a fight to the end in the third set.

"We just couldn't find a way to get key stops defensively against Georgia," stated Botsford. "We tried different personnel in the hopes we could slow their left-side hitters, but never found the answers we needed.

Carroll had a double-double of 15 kills and 10 digs while also adding one service ace and one block.

VanLiew had 14 kills, one block and seven digs.

Rick had 33 assists, one service ace and eight digs.

Serrano had eight kills.

Pickering had one kill and three blocks.

Rhoades had four assists and 10 digs.

"Right now our priority as coaches and as a team is to find out who can fill the void at the opposite position," Botsford concluded. "We haven't gotten the production we need from that spot, and it really hurt us tonight."

For the Bulldogs, freshman outside hitter Rachel Ritchie had a team leading 17 kills, one service, two blocks and four digs.

Sophomore setter Meghan Donovan had 42 assists, one service ace, one block and three digs.

Freshman outside hitter T'ara Ceasar had a double-double of 16 kills and 12 digs with two aces and a block.

In the end, Serrano and VanLiew were named Wildcat Classic All-Tournament Team.

FGCU will be on the road once again and will be playing in the Hoosier Classic in Bloomington, Indiana. They will be facing Samford, UNLV and host Indiana in the tournament.