"I'm pretty proud of myself," Stephens said. "The circumstances I came into this program under with a new coach and everything. I felt like I adjusted really well. I'm proud of myself. The coaches always pushed me. It's super weird. I've played this sport for 14 years. I'm feeling a little sad finally. The grind always kind of gets to you, but I'm going to miss it."
Shockingly, Lipscomb, who are the defending A-SUN Conference Tournament champions, are currently the No. 4 seed in the conference and although it was senior night for Stephens, three of Lipscomb's players that were seniors were also recognized: defensive specialist Jenny Phelan, libero Brittany Thomas and right side hitter Chloe Rogers.
Fast forward to the match against Lipscomb. Now overall in the series against the Lady Bison, FGCU is 6-16 against Lipscomb. Earlier in the season, FGCU beat Lipscomb 3-1 at Lipscomb and hoping to sweep this season's series against the Lady Bison for the first time since 2012.
For the starting lineup for FGCU, it was junior Karissa Rhoades (libero), sophomore Daniele Serrano (middle blocker), junior Maggie Rick (setter), junior Kaiti Krivdo (right side hitter), freshman Snowy Burnam (outside hitter) Stephens (defensive specialist) and junior Amanda Carroll (outside hitter).
In the end, FGCU shutout Lipscomb 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-22). With the win, as well as the previous win at Lipscomb, the Eagles swept the series over the Lady Bison for the first time since 2012 and are now 7-17 overall against Lipscomb.
Carroll led the charge offensively. The Albuquerque native had 14 kills, three blocks (two solo blocks, one block assist), eight digs and four aces.
Serrano had six kills, four block assists and one dig.
Rick, after having a season high 60 assists against Upstate, had 32 along with two aces, four block assists and one dig.
Krivdo, despite having only two kills, had seven blocks and one dig while Burnam had six kills five block assists and eight digs. Burnam snapped her streak of getting 10 or more kills after five matches.
Rhoades had one assist and 16 digs.
Stephens finished with nine digs and one assist for her senior night.
Off the bench, freshman outside hitter Cortney VanLiew had eight kills and one dig while freshman defensive specialist Alayna Ryan had one assist, one dig and one ace.
"The best stretches throughout season have been fueled by our defense, both at the net and behind it," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "And if you look at the stats and the way the game was unfolding, both teams were defending extremely well. It was hard to come by kills. So it was imperative that we keep up with what they were doing on the defensive end and we did exactly that. I was so impressed from the defensive perspective. It started with effort and we saw it this week in practice. We made it a point of emphasis, and I love the way they came out and executed."
For Lipscomb, junior outside hitter Carlyle Nusbaum had a team-leading 17 kills, two blocks and seven digs.
Thomas had one assist and 16 digs.
Sophomore setter Morgan Elmore had one kill, one block assist, six digs and 37 assists.
“I thought we competed in stretches tonight, but unfortunately there were also some times where we were unable to make a play here or there that cost us sets,” Lipscomb head coach Brandon Rosenthal said.
“It wasn’t a bad match, but it certainly wasn’t a good one. I would have liked to see us carry over that momentum from last weekend.”
All in all, Courtney Stephens' night was one thrill of a lifetime for her. Below is a picture with me and her with a poster I made for her senior night:
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