After a a lot of hype in front of almost 800 people, the FGCU volleyball team took the roll of the dice against JU and it paid off with success. The Eagles (14-6, 5-1 A-SUN) beat the Dolphins (11-8, 5-1 A-SUN) 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-20). This game was a battle for first place in the A-SUN Conference, and with the win, FGCU ties JU for first place, but at the same time as the Eagles/Dolphins match, Kennesaw State beat USC Upstate 3-0, so as of now, FGCU, KSU and JU are in a three-way tie for first place in conference.
Offensively, freshman outside hitter Cortney VanLiew led the team with a double-double of 12 kills and 13 digs. VanLiew also added one assist and three blocks to the mix.
Junior outside hitter Amanda Carroll had eight kills, snapping her streak of 10+ kills. Carroll, however, did have an assist, three blocks and 13 digs. With the eight kills, Carroll now has a career total of 1,193 kills.
Junior setter Maggie Rick had one kill, one ace, six digs and a block to go with her 27 assists.
Sophomore middle blocker Daniele Serrano had seven kills, two digs and a team-leading seven blocks in the game.
Junior libero Karissa Rhoades had 12 digs and four assists.
Senior defensive specialist Courtney Stephens had one ace, two assists and eight digs.
Junior middle blocker Kaiti Krivdo had six kills and three blocks.
Freshman outside hitter Snowy Burnam had three kills, three blocks and three digs.
From the bench, freshman Alayna Ryan contributed with one ace and an assist while redshirt freshman Ciara DeBell added two digs to the mix.
"Offensively, we were not our typical selves and that has a lot to do with how Jacksonville was defending us," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "I thought (Jacksonville) did a great job, but I was really pleased to see us match that level of intensity. The blocking set the tone, and I thought the defense behind it really complemented that block. Hopefully we can continue to play that way. Winning when the offense is not exactly where we want it is a step in the right direction."
For the Dolphins, sophomore Mallory Mattingly led the team with a double-double of 13 kills and 12 digs. Mattingly also added two aces and a block.
Sophomore setter Alleah Stamatis had three kills, a block and five digs to go with her 24 assists.
Senior libero Mackenzie Swan had 19 digs, two assists and an ace.
Sophomore outside hitter Natalie Wehner had seven kills, one assist, three aces, a block and nine digs.
"Tonight was a tough night, but this is something we can look back on and learn a lot from," said Head Coach Julie Darty. "We just didn't get it done, offensively or defensively, and when you can't follow a game plan and execute it, you let the other team take over and control the match."
"We made some good adjustments, but we just really were not sharp tonight. It felt like we were a little shell-shocked and FGCU did a nice job of making us very uncomfortable. I am hopeful that we can learn from this loss and get better as a team."
The Eagles outlasted the Dolphins in points (52-41), kills (37-30), blocks (12-5), assists (36-28) and digs (59-56) while the dolphins led the match in aces (6-3).
UNF, FGCU's next scheduled opponent, won their first conference game against Stetson 3-2.
The conference are as shown below with conference record first and overall record next:
Kennesaw State 5-1, 11-4
FGCU 5-1, 14-6
Jacksonville 5-1, 11 -8
Lipscomb 3-3, 10-9
USC Upstate 2-4, 5-14
Stetson 2-4, 3-15
NJIT 1-5, 10-12
North Florida 1-5, 8-14
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