FGCU VB: Homewood Suites Fort Myers/FGCU Classic- Day One

The FGCU volleyball team (4-3) got a season-high 14 kills from junior Giovanna Borgiotti, but Albany recovered from an early deficit to pull off a 22-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15-9 victory in the Homewood Suites Fort Myers/FGCU Classic in Alico Arena on Friday.

"I thought Albany did a great job coming back after being down in a 2-0 hole," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "We did not adapt particularly well after that second set."

The Green and Blue will look to bounce back on Saturday beginning with a 10:30 a.m. match against Western Illinois before closing out the event with a 7 p.m. tilt against West Virginia.

In the fifth set, FGCU scored six of the first eight points and held a 7-4 lead following a kill from Borgiotti, but Albany answered with three straight. The Eagles got two straight following that, capped by a double block from seniors Sharonda Pickering and Kaiti Krivdo, but the visitors then scored the final eight points to take the match.

Borgiotti finished with 14 kills, eight digs and two block assists. It was her fifth career outing with at least that many kills, and she fell just two shy of matching her career-high set on Oct. 25, 2016 against Bethune-Cookman.

Meanwhile, FGCU had four players reach double figures in kills for the first time this season as Cortney VanLiew added 13, while junior Daniele Serrano and Pickering each recorded 11.

VanLiew has now produced double digit kills in three straight and six of seven matches this season. She also has at least eight digs in five of those matches, including 10 on Friday for her first double-double of the season and the seventh of her career.

Serrano hit a team-high .308 while adding three block assists along with her season-high 11 kills, topping her previous best of 10 set against Florida Atlantic in the season opener. She has produced at least a .300 hitting percentage in four of seven matches this year.

For Pickering, her 11 kills is a new career-high, and they came at a .304 clip. She topped her previous career-high of nine kills set just last weekend against New Mexico State, while adding four block assists and a pair of digs.

On the defensive side, freshman Dana Axner had a team-high 19 digs, falling just one shy of matching her season-high. It was the freshman's fifth match with double-digit digs, and she has at least eight in each one.

In addition to VanLiew's 10 digs, sophomore Snowy Burnam (9), Borgiotti (8), senior Maggie Rick (7), freshman Chelsey Lockey (6) and junior Karissa Rhoades with five also contributed in that category.

Rick easily shattered her season-high in assists with 42. It was her 24th career match with at least 40, and she finished with four kills and one block assist.

Axner and Lockey tied for second on the team in assists with six apiece. For Axner, that was a season-high.

Other Matchups:
Albany (3-5) shutout Western Illinois (1-7) 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-15) before the Leathernecks were shutout by Power 5 Conference member West Virginia (3-5) 3-0 (21-25, 17-25, 18-25).

Up Next:
The Eagles wrap up the tournament as they play Western Illinois at 10:30 AM before facing West Virginia at 7 PM.