FGCU VB: Sunshine State Challenge Recap- Day One

The FGCU volleyball team (1-1) opened the season with a split in the Sunshine State Challenge as they shutout FAU (0-2) 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 26-24) before falling to UCF (1-0) 1-3 (16-25, 25-14, 21-25, 16-25). With the win over the Owls, the Eagles are now 4-6 against the Owls and with the loss, they are 1-4 against the Knights.

"Ball control had a big impact in both matches," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "In the morning, it helped us kick off the offense with solid first contact, and this afternoon we struggled in that area and became very predictable. Our focus has to be on maintaining a higher level of consistency throughout the course of the match so we can manage point runs a bit better."

"We’re going to look back at this and realize this one of those big wins for us when talking about a tournament resume," said UCF head coach Todd Dagenais. "FGCU is going to be a top-50 RPI team with at least 25 wins. For us to come out and maintain composure against such a great defensive team was really impressive.

"We found ways to stay in games and outlasted them. Our blocking did a great job of slowing them down and forcing them to adjust their shots. Amber and Erin did a great job of running the offense from pin to pin. FGCU crowded the middle a lot, so we let the outsides take the majority of the swings. For their first real collegiate match, our freshmen showed a lot of composure and resilience. After starting tight in sets 1, 3 and 4, their attitude and energy helped us close out the match."

The story for the matchup against FAU was sophomore Cortney VanLiew or I would say to her "What it do VanLiew?" The Seymour, Indiana native came off the bench and went on a roll as she finished with a team-leading 17 kills with one assist and one dig.

In the starting lineup, junior Daniele "Dani" Serrano finished with 10 kills and four blocks. Serrano's four blocks put her in a tie for 4th all-time in career blocks with Kaitlin Holm. The Sanford native is 43 away from passing Ericka Fonseca (247) for third all-time.

Senior Amanda Carroll finished with eight kills, two assists, one ace, five digs, and three blocks. This was the first time that Carroll did not reach 10 or kills in the opening match since her sophomore year (8/26/16 vs. Villanova: nine kills).

Senior Maggie Rick finished with 23 assists, two aces, and eight digs.

The Block Party consists of Serrano, fellow junior Giovanna "Giogio" Borgiotti, seniors Sharonda Pickering and Kaiti Krivdo and sophomore Snowy Burnam. But this season, the group has featured a new member to the squad: freshman Tori Morris. Morris, a middle blocker from Virginia Beach, had seven blocks in the game with a kill and an ace.

Two other players that made their debuts with Morris were freshmen Dana Axner and Chelsea Lockey. Axner, a libero from Dublin, Ohio, had 12 digs, three assists and one ace while Lockey, a setter from Eaton, Colorado under Rick's wing, finished with 12 assists and four digs.

Burnam also had a good game while being a part of the Block Party. The former A-SUN Freshman of the Year in indoor and beach volleyball finished with five kills, three blocks and three digs.

Pickering finished with one block while Krivdo finished with a kill.

Borgiotti finished with three kills and a block.

Senior Karissa Rhoades finished with an assist and a dig.

For the Owls, junior Cailea Gibbs led the team offensively with 11 kills.

Junior Sigourney Kame finished with nine kills.

Junior Massiel Matos made her debut for the Owls finishing with eight kills, two blocks and four digs. Matos joined FAU after spending her first two years at NJCAA Miami-Dade College.

Senior Ivone Martinez was one dig shy of a double-double as she finished with 42 assists and nine digs.

The match lasted a little over an hour. Honestly, I would’ve thought it would go a little longer than that because FAU put up a fight in the second and third set.

After a four-hour intermission, the Eagles returned to action and played UCF to a losing effort.

VanLiew once again led the team in the starting lineup with 16 kills, one ace, one block and eight digs. VanLiew now has a total of 33 kills for the season.

Carroll would also have a good match as she finished with a double-double of 13 kills and 15 digs with a block.

Carroll's 21 kills give her 1,375 career kills. In addition, Carroll's one ace against FAU put her in a tie with A-SUN Hall of Famer and beach volleyball Olympian Brooke Youngquist-Sweat for second most career aces (100). Last season, Carroll broke Youngquist-Sweat's all-time kills record.

Rick, Serrano, Burnam and Krivdo had two kills each.

Rick added 32 assists, two blocks and seven digs, Serrano added two assists, and Burnam added three assist, a block and 15 digs.

Rick's 55 assists put her at 3,740 career assists (2nd all-time). The Alpharetta native is 669 assists away from passing Gigi Meyer (4,408) for most all-time.

Lockey added five assists and a dig, Axner added 20 digs and an ace, Pickering added four kills and three blocks while Morris added three blocks of her own. Rhoades added four digs and an ace and Borgiotti added a kill and a dig. Sophomore Alayna Ryan also entered the game.

For the Knights, freshman McKenna Melville led the way with a double-double of 19 kills and 16 digs with one ace.

"Mckenna took a lot of rips for us. That wasn’t the plan, and it won’t be how we run our offense normally, but that was how they were defending us. We’re going have a much more balanced offense. She did a great job, and 20 out of  her 55 swings came from the back row. Her defense was exceptional," said Dagenais on Melville's performance

Sophomore Anne-Marie Watson had 16 kills, one assist, seven blocks and two digs.

They had a hard time adjusting to her. After they made an adjustment, Anne-Marie made her own adjustment, which is something she would not have done last year. We put her in a position to get a lot of blocks, and she did just that with some great positioning and technique," Dagenais said on Watson's performance.

Junior Erin Olson had 29 assists and nine digs.

Senior Jordan Pingel finished with 14 digs and two assists.

After FGCU's match with UCF, host Miami (1-0) defeated FAU 3-1 (25-20, 25-20, 22-25, 31-29). This was Miami head coach Jose "Keno" Gandara's 100th win with Miami.

"We played a great team, the expectations were there and I think the girls lived up to it and I'm happy about it," Gandara said. "It's a great feeling to get this win and it means a lot to have the staff and players I've been able to coach be a part of this win."

On a side note, it was also the debut of new assistant coach Stephanie Zielinski. Zielinski is entering her first season with FGCU after spending her last two seasons with Middle Tennessee State (MTSU).

Up next:
FGCU wraps up their portion of the tournament at 11 A.M. against host Miami. Afterwards, FAU will play UCF at 1:30 P.M. before Miami plays UCF at 7:30 P.M.