The FGCU volleyball team (14-6, 7-1 A-SUN) take a little break from conference play as they head to Daytona Beach to play Bethune-Cookman (10-11, 2-2 MEAC) at the Moore Gymnasium on Tuesday, October 6 at 6 P.M.
Last Time Out:
The Eagles opened their two-match road trip with a 3-2 nail biter of a win against A-SUN newcomer Liberty. It was the first time that the Eagles went into five sets since facing West Virginia (Sept. 8) and the first time that they won in five sets since September 9, 2017 against Davidson in the Wildcat Classic.
At the moment, the Eagles are currently in second place behind Kennesaw (16-4, 7-0 A-SUN).
Still What it Do VanLiew:
Still leading on the offensive front is sophomore Cortney VanLiew. VanLiew leads the team with 283 kills (3.99 kills per set). Against Liberty, VanLiew had 22 kills and six digs in her name. The Seymour native has 591 career kills and is nine away from reaching 600 in her career.
Maggie's World:
Senior Maggie Rick is still on the goal of reaching Gigi Meyer's all-time career assists record (4,408 2011-14). Currently, Rick has 4,197 in her career and is 212 away from passing Meyer as the all-time program leader in assists. Rick had her seventh double-double of the season (17th in her career) against Liberty as she finished with 45 assists and 10 digs.
The Spicy Wall of Serrano:
Junior Daniele Serrano has been on a hot moment offensively and defensively. Offensively, Serrano had nine kills against Liberty. Defensively, she had seven total blocks.
Serrano got her 500th career kill In the first set against Stetson and has 518 career kills.
On the defensive side, Serrano is tied with Ashley Yance (45, 2005-09) for second all-time in solo blocks (45), but did pass Yance (242, 287) for second all-time in block assists (250) and total blocks (295). Serrano is 31 away from passing Olivia Mesner (280, 342, 2011-14) for all-time leader in career block assists and total blocks. Currently, the Sanford native has 128 kills (fourth most on the team) and 94 blocks. As a result of her performance, Serrano was named A-SUN Defensive Player of the Week.
"Dani's attention to the small details of blocking have really paid off this season," said head coach Matt Botsford. "She is doing a phenomenal job for us impacting the game both offensively and defensively. That kind of growth is what you hope for as a coach – the development of a complete game."
Chopping the Digs:
Freshman Dana Axner has been on her toes defensively. Axner currently has 336 digs (4.73 digs per set). In the match against Liberty, Axner had 18 digs, seven assists and an ace. As a result of her performance, Axner was named A-SUN Freshman of the week for the fourth time, which breaks a tie with Amanda Carroll (2015), Serrano (2016) and VanLiew (2017) for the most in program history. She is now just one short of matching the A-SUN's all-time record held by North Florida's Gabby O'Connell.
"Dana just continues to impress with her consistency and competitiveness," said Botsford. "And as good as she has been, she knows there are areas she needs to continue to develop. That desire to continually improve is what makes her so much fun to work with and is why she is having so much success this early in her career."
Bring the Chips and Salsa:
Along with Serrano, the Block Party (seniors Sharonda Pickering and Kaiti Krivdo, junior Giovanna "Giogio" Borgiotti, sophomore Snowy Burnam and freshman Tori Morris) remain in tact on defense. The squad have a combined 303 total blocks and 524 kills. Against Liberty, they had 19 blocks and 36 kills in the match with Burnam (12) and Pickering (10) leading the way.
In addition, Pickering is second in the nation in hitting percentage (.441) behind Weber State's Hannah Hill (.448).
Scouting Bethune-Cookman:
The Wildcats are entering with a two-match winning streak after defeating South Carolina State 3-1 and shutting out Savannah State 3-0.
Currently, the Wildcats are sitting in third in the Southern Region of the MEAC.
Offensively, sophomore Jordan Jefferson leads the team with 249 kills (3.28 kills per set). Jefferson had 13 kills against South Carolina State and 14 against Savannah State. Defensively, Jefferson leads the team in digs (323). Jefferson was named MEAC Co-Player Of The Week for the fifth time this season.
Not far along in digs is junior Shayla Eugene. Eugene has 286 digs (second most on the team. Eugene had 23 digs against South Carolina State and 14 digs against Savannah State.
Eugene was named MEAC Defensive Specialist of the Week for the second straight time this season.
Senior Meraiah Hill leads the team with 76 blocks. Hill had one block against South Carolina State.
Series History:
FGCU is 12-0 all-time against Bethune-Cookman dating back to a 3-0 win in Alico Arena on Sept. 8, 2007. The two teams have met at least once every season since 2012, and the Eagles have only dropped five sets in the series. Last time, FGCU swept Bethune-Cookman 3-0 at home and away.
How to Keep Up:
The match will have livestats available and livestream will be provided on the Cat Eye Network. For the livestream, it will cost money to watch unless you have an account to watch, otherwise, it will cost $6 for a one-day pass.
Fans can keep up on Twitter with both teams:
FGCU: @FGCU_VB
Bethune-Cookman: @BCUvolleyball
Livestats link: https://bcuathletics.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Livestream link: https://bcuathletics.com/watch/?Live=139&type=Live
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