"I just loved the way the team competed tonight," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "Our passers did a great job, and I thought both Maggie (Rick) and Chelsey (Lockey) put their hitters in good spots. Going into that third set we felt pretty good offensively but still weren't were we needed to be on the defensive end. I thought the team's commitment to that side of the game showed up big in that set."
"We are focused on one thing at a time right now from having a competitive mentality, being aggressive and committing to what we have committed to at the beginning of the season in terms of effort and attitude," UNF head coach Kristen Wright said. "The feedback is that we need to have a balanced attack. Tonight Gabby O'Connell was hot and FGCU made an adjustment."
It was sophomore Cortney VanLiew that led the way on the offensive front. VanLiew would finish with 20 kills and was one dig shy of a double-double.
"Cortney's performance all around was very impressive," Botsford said. "She is starting to mature with her decision making and shot selection and is reading the defense extremely well."
Defensively, freshman Dana Axner finished with 13 digs and a career high eight assists. Axner has had at least five assists in seven of the past 10 matches, and at least eight digs in every match this year, including double-digits in all but three.
The Block Party (senior Kaiti Krivdo and Sharonda Pickering, juniors Dani Serrano and Giovanna "Giogio" Borgiotti and sophomore Snowy Burnam) combined for 24 kills and 16 blocks. Pickering and Borgiotti would finish with six kills each while Krivdo led the way with two solo blocks.
Not far from Rick, freshman Chelsea Lockey finished also finished with double-digits (16) and added an ace and five digs.
Other players that contributed were sophomore Alayna Ryan and senior Karissa Rhoades. Ryan had an ace while Rhoades had a kill, an ace and eight digs.
For the Ospreys, sophomore Gabby O'Connell led the way offensively with 11 kills and seven digs while junior Taryn Griffey followed with nine kills and four blocks.
Defensively, along with Griffey's four blocks, sophomores Callie Workman and Madison Donnelly finished in double digits digs (Workman: 13, Donnelly: 10).
In addition to the win against UNF, Botsford now has 98 career wins and needs two more to become the second head coach in program history to reach 100 career wins since Jaye Flood (103).
As it stands, the Eagles are currently in a three-way tie for first place in conference with Lipscomb and Liberty.
Up Next:
The Eagles continue conference play on the road as they head to Newark, New Jersey to face NJIT on Sept. 28 at 6 PM before traveling to Florence, Alabama to face new A-SUN Conference, North Alabama on Sept. 30 at 1 PM.
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