A balanced offensive attack without senior Amanda Carroll and the defense of freshman Dana Axner helped lead The FGCU volleyball team (4-2) wrapped up their portion the finale of the Lobo Classic on Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 shutout win (25-20, 25-10, 25-23) over Eastern Kentucky (0-6) in their first ever matchup.
Axner tallied a match-high 18 digs while tying her season-high in assists with five. The freshman libero joined junior Daniele Serrano on the All-Lobo Classic team after totaling 43 digs, 12 assists and one ace over three matches this weekend.
Serrano, meanwhile, added five kills, four block assists and a solo block against EKU. She totaled 19 kills, three digs, three solo blocks and 17 block assists in the tournament.
Sophomore Cortney VanLiew, who had a match-high 11 kills, opened the first set with a kill as the Eagles scored four of the first five points. Moments later, EKU trimmed its deficit to one, but back-to-back kills from senior Maggie Rick and junior Giovanna Borgiotti pushed it to 10-7.
The first two collegiate kills from freshman Kirstine Garder increased the lead to six, and senior Sharonda Pickering slammed one home to give FGCU seven set points. Garder made her official debut for the team.
After three straight from EKU, which forced a timeout from the Green and Blue, Pickering and Borgiotti teamed up for a set-winning block.
In the second set, VanLiew and Serrano produced kills, and Rick recorded an ace as the Eagles scored six of the first seven points.
A block from Borgiotti and Serrano pushed the margin to eight, and Garder added another kill to push it to 20-9.
The Eagles closed the set with three straight points on kills from a trio of players, including sophomore Snowy Burnam with the set-winner.
EKU took its first lead of the match early in the third set following four straight points that gave them a 9-5 advantage. With the margin the same, FGCU went on a 4-0 run behind a pair of kills from VanLiew and an ace from sophomore Alayna Ryan to tie things up at 11.
With the score tied at 22 apiece, VanLiew scored two of the final three points, including the match-winner, to give FGCU the victory.
All-in-all, FGCU had nine players record at least one kill, led by VanLiew. Beyond her, Borgiotti, Burnam and Pickering each added six. Serrano and Garder also had five apiece. The team hit .321 over 106 attempts.
Rick (23) and freshman Chelsey Lockey (12) combined for 35 of the team's 44 assists, and Rick also led the team in aces (3). Lockey also finished second on the team with eight digs, while Borgiotti (7), VanLiew (6) and Rick (5) also contributed.
The Block Party (Serrano, Borgiotti, Burnam, and Pickering) combined for a total 13 blocks (Borgiotti [3], Serrano [5], Burnam [2], Pickering [3]).
Senior Kaitlan Krivdo and Karissa Rhoades and freshman Tori Morris also contributed in the game. Krivdo finished with a kill, Rhoades had an assist and three digs, and Morris added two kills.
"I thought the team did a good job adapting to some new lineups while managing our efficiencies much better than last night," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "We continue to block and defend at a very high level and that remained consistent throughout the weekend. Individually, I thought Dana did a great job managing the backcourt and Snowy found a really nice grove offensively for us."
Other Games:
Wrapping up the tournament, the Lobos would get shutout 0-3 to the Aggies in their Rio Grande Rivalry game.
Quotes From Other Coaches:
"Rivalries are fun. It's hard early in the season, especially when you have injuries," Aggies head coach Mike Jordan said on playing New Mexico. "I was really happy with the effort today on a hostile court. I think we managed the game well, other than maybe at the service line, we got a lot of people involved."
Up Next:
The Eagles will next host West Virginia, Albany and Western Illinois next weekend in the Homewood Suites Fort Myers/FGCU Classic in Alico Arena. Not only is it the team's home opener, but it's the only time they'll be at home until Oct. 5.
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