Prior to the game, the FGCU volleyball program honored outstanding faculty and staff who have impacted the student-athletes on the team. Those recognized included: Kristine Tullo, Carol Sweeney, Kathy Peterson, Storm Blitz, Dr. Jiehong Liao, Dr. Mary Wisnom, Dr. Lewis Broslovsky, Paul Evans, Dr. Derrick Boucher, Dr. Ashley Kuhn, Matthew Neubek, Danny Mahy, Carly Jaskulski and Reid Lennertz.
NJIT head coach Peter Volkert was unable to travel with the team due to personal reasons, so assistant coaches Jabarry Goodridge and Ray Bello took over for the match.
Offensively, it was sophomore Cortney VanLiew (two blocks) that led the way for the Eagles. VanLiew finished with a double-double of 15 kills and 10 digs while adding an assist and an ace. For the Seymour native has 662 career kills. In fact, VanLiew passed Jelena Simic (649, 2009, 2011) for 11th all-time in career kills.
"Cortney was really good, especially at the end," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "She was making some good decisions. She was relying a little bit too much on the scouting report in the first set instead of allowing her athleticism to take over. I think she loosened up a little and just let herself play as we got into sets two and three, so that was nice to see."
"We definitely passed really well as a team and played really good defense, which was exciting to watch," said VanLiew.
Senior Maggie Rick would finish with 23 assists, two kills and five digs. With her 23 assists, Rick now has 4,324 in her career, and is now 85 away from passing Gigi Meyer (4,408 2011-14) as the all-time leader in career assists.
Freshman Chelsea Lockey would follow Rick in double-digit assists as she finished with 10 assists and one ace.
Sophomore Snowy Burnam (two blocks) finished with six kills and 13 digs.
Defensively, freshman Dana Axner and the Block Party (seniors Sharonda Pickering and Kaiti Krivdo, juniors Giogio Borgiotti and Dani Serrano, Burnam and VanLiew and freshman Tori Morris) played their role profoundly.
Axner would finish with a team-high 15 digs, two aces and an assist. Axner now has 438 dig as she passed Brooke Youngquist-Sweat's 2005 season record (429) for 11th all-time. The Dublin, Ohio native is now 21 away from passing Holly Youngquist's 2009 season record (459, 10th all-time).
Along with VanLiew's 15 kills, the Block Party had a combined 37 kills and 14 blocks with Morris leading the way with four blocks with five kills.
"I think this year especially, I really upped my game in servicing and in blocking," said VanLiew on her overall season performance. "I was really hoping this summer I would work really hard to improve that game."
Serrano (two blocks) would add three kills of her own, putting her at 551 kills in her career.
With her two block assists, Serrano now has 269 and is 12 shy of passing Olivia Mesner (280, 2011-14) as the all-time leader.
In total blocks, Serrano now has 317 and is 26 shy of passing Mesner (342) as the all-time leader in that category.
Sophomore Alayna Ryan and senior Karissa Rhoades also contributed profoundly. Ryan had two digs while Rhoades had three aces and a dig. Rhoades now has 84 career aces and is now in the top 10 as she also battles with Rick (86).
In addition, Rhoades' one dig put her at 864 in her career. She is 138 away from becoming the seventh player to reach 1,000 career digs. In fact, Rhoades is 21 digs shy of passing Heather Van Olst (884, 200-06) for eighth all-time.
"I think our team mentality and us working hard together as a group," said VanLiew on the team's overall season performance. "We really care about each other and we're all really close and I think that helps a lot."
For the Highlanders, no one reached double-digits in kills nor assists. Junior Madi Busler was the closest as she led the team with nine kills, one assist, two blocks and six digs.
In assists, freshman Marissa Soitsman had eight as far as the closest to double-digit assists.
Defensively, senior Adriana Nieto had 13 digs and two assists. Nieto was the only player to have double-digits in any category.
Senior Jovana Baosic and freshman Michaela Dungan had two blocks each.
In addition, Rhoades' one dig put her at 864 in her career. She is 138 away from becoming the seventh player to reach 1,000 career digs. In fact, Rhoades is 21 digs shy of passing Heather Van Olst (884, 200-06) for eighth all-time.
"I think our team mentality and us working hard together as a group," said VanLiew on the team's overall season performance. "We really care about each other and we're all really close and I think that helps a lot."
For the Highlanders, no one reached double-digits in kills nor assists. Junior Madi Busler was the closest as she led the team with nine kills, one assist, two blocks and six digs.
In assists, freshman Marissa Soitsman had eight as far as the closest to double-digit assists.
Defensively, senior Adriana Nieto had 13 digs and two assists. Nieto was the only player to have double-digits in any category.
Senior Jovana Baosic and freshman Michaela Dungan had two blocks each.
Lipscomb (15-9, 10-2 A-SUN) defeated UNF (9-20, 4-9 A-SUN) 3-1 on Saturday and Liberty (13-13, 9-3 A-SUN) shutout North Alabama 3-0 (2-19, 0-12 A-SUN) at the same time as FGCU.
A-SUN Standings as of 10/28:
1. Kennesaw State (20-5, 11-1)
2. FGCU (20-6, 11-1)
3. Lipscomb (15-9, 10-2)
4. Liberty (13-13, 9-3)
5. Stetson (12-10, 4-6)
6. North Florida (9-19, 4-8)
7. NJIT (4-22, 2-9)
8. Jacksonville (3-21, 2-10)
9. North Alabama (2-19, 0-12)
Up Next:
The Eagles head on the road for their final three conference road trips as they travel to face Lipscomb on Friday, November 2 at 7 P.M., Kennesaw on Sunday, November 4 at 2 P.M. and Stetson on Tuesday, November 6 at 6 P.M.
"I think we just need to come out with the mentality that we can do it, and if we work hard together, we can come out on top,
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