Last Time Out:
After being on the road for their first six matches, the Eagles opened their first home series with the Homewood Suites Fort Myers/FGCU Classic. The Eagles would fall to Albany 3-2 in the opener on day one. On day two, they split their final two games with a 3-0 win over Western Illinois before falling in a hard fought 3-2 loss to Power 5 West Virginia.
Swing the Ax:
Freshman Dana Axner has been on fire as the starting libero. The Dublin, Ohio native set a DI program-record 39 digs and a season-high seven assists in a five-set match against West Virginia this past Saturday. She's had at least 15 digs and six assists in each of the team's three outings over the weekend, which also included Albany and Western Illinois.
Axner has 156 digs, or 4.73 per set, along with 38 assists and five aces through nine matches this year. She has been named to the All-Lobo Classic and All-Homewood Suites Fort Myers/FGCU Classic teams.
Oh Captain, My Captain:
Senior setter Maggie Rick is just 68 assists away from becoming the second player in program history with 4,000. This past weekend, she tallied 40 + assists in two of three matches, and she grabbed her third double-double of the season (46 assists, 14 digs) against West Virginia.
Rick remains on pace to break Gigi Meyer's (4,408, 2011-14) career record. She has at least 20 assists in 103 of 106 career matches. Furthermore, she has at least 30 on 49 occasions, 40-49 25 times and 50-59 eight times. Defensively, she needs just 55 more digs to become only the third player in program history with at least 1,000 assists and 700 digs in a career, joining Gigi Meyer (4,408 assists/947 digs) and Chandra Lefever (3,108 assists/765 digs).
Spice Alert:
Junior middle blocker Daniele "Dani" Serrano continues to shine at the net. She has 245 career blocks, which is just three shy of passing Ericka Fonseca (247, 2005-06) for third most in program history. She is also tied for fourth all-time in solo blocks (39) with Devon Watts (2004-05) and third in block assists with 206.
777:
Senior Karissa Rhoades produced a season-high 16 digs in the team's most recent outing against West Virginia on Saturday. In doing so, she eclipsed Chandra Lefever (765, 2006-07, 09) for the ninth most career digs in program history and enters this weekend with 777. Her 2.64 career digs per set ranks 12th all-time.
Sophomore Cortney VanLiew continues to shine in her sophomore year. She has double-digit digs in all but one match, and she recorded a career-high 29 against West Virginia on Saturday, the third most in a match in program history behind Ana Kokanovic (37, Nov. 1, 2008 vs Mercer) and senior Amanda Carroll (30, Nov. 11, 2016 at USC Upstate).
In all, VanLiew added 10 digs, three assists, one ace and one block against West Virginia in what was her third consecutive double-double and the ninth of her career. Currently, VanLiew leads the team with 136 kills.
Block Party:
The Block Party (Serrano, fellow junior Giovanna "Giogio" Borgiotti, sophomore Snowy Burnam, freshman Tori Morris and seniors Kaiti Krivdo and Sharonda Pickering) have lead the way in blocks. The squad have a combined 123 blocks this season.
Coach 100:
Head coach Matt Botsford is in his fifth season and needs just six more victories to reach 100 in his career. He has compiled a 94-42 record and his teams have registered at least 20 wins overall in three straight seasons and at least 10 wins in A-SUN play in four straight seasons, which are record streaks in FGCU's Division-I era. Botsford will be the second FGCU head volleyball coach to reach 100 wins (first: Jaye Flood).
Scouting UCF:
Junior Erin Olson and her freshman sister, Amber, have guided the Knights to a .250 attack percentage, which ranks third in the American Athletic Conference this season. The setting sisters have averaged a combined 11.94 assists per set. Defensively, the duo averages 4.2 digs per set between the pair.
This will be the second consecutive weekend at home for UCF after hosting the UCF Challenge against FIU, UIC and Wofford. The Knights took all three matches, dropping just one set, to win the tournament title.
Freshman McKenna Melville was named tournament MVP with 3.7 kills and 3.8 digs per set. Sophomores Kristina Fisher and Anne-Marie Watson joined the rookie on the all-tournament squad with 3.6 kills and 1.6 blocks per set, respectively.
A big part of the Knights' success in the UCF Challenge was the block. Over the course of three matches, the Knights turned away 35 attacks, which matched their production from the opening six contests of the year. Kathryn Wesolich posted nine block assists in the tournament opener. Nerissa Moravec followed that up with 10 blocks, two solos, in the nightcap.
Friday night's matchup will be the second meeting between FGCU and UCF. The Knights defeated the Eagles in four sets in the Sunshine State Challenge on Aug. 24. Since then, UCF has knocked off No. 7 USC and taken No. 4 Florida to four sets in the Bubly Invitational in Gainesville.
Scouting Yale:
Yale won two of three matches this past weekend at the Art Carmichael Invitational hosted by the University of Rhode Island. The Bulldogs defeated Army-West-Point and Rhode Island, and dropped a match to New Hampshire. Kathryn Attar, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year, was named tournament MVP. In addition, Tristin Kott earned all-tournament recognition.
Entering this season, Yale returned five All-Ivy League selections, including the league's defensive player of the year (Kate Swanson) and rookie of the year (Attar). Swanson and Attar both were also awarded spots on the first team. In addition, Frances Arnautou and Kott earned second-team honors, while Kelley Wirth was honorable mention.
Scouting Alabama State:
Alabama State has been paced all season by its upperclassmen. Senior Kori Kutsch leads the SWAC with 368 assists and senior Candace Martin ranks second among league competitors with 0.89 blocks per set. A pair of juniors, Bayle Bennett (101 kills) and Krysta Medearis (102 kills), are top offensive threats for the Hornets and senior Kayla Torres' 128 digs (second in the SWAC) tops the defense.
The Hornets fell to South Alabama 3-0 in their most previous game.
This will be the second time FGCU plays Alabama State. The first time was on Sept. 19, 2014 where the Eagles shutout the the Hornets
The tournament will begin with host UCF facing Alabama State to open the tournament at 11 AM before FGCU plays against Yale. Yale will remain on the court and play Alabama State at 6 PM before FGCU plays UCF to wrap up day one.
On day two, UCF will play Yale at 1 PM before FGCU wraps up their part of the tournament with a game against Alabama State at 3 PM to wrap up the tournament.
Livestats will be available for all six matches.
For the FGCU game against UCF, it will be livestream, but you'll need a subscription to watch ($5.99 for an all-day pass).
You can also keep updated on the teams' Twitter accounts:
FGCU: @FGCU_VB
Yale: @YaleVolleyball
Alabama State: @BamaStateVB
UCF: @UCF_Volleyball
Links to Livestats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=ucf
Livestream Link: https://www.ucfknights.tv/
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