FGCU VB: National Tournament First Round Recap

The FGCU volleyball team (27-6) were determined with one goal: to make it to the second round of the 2018 NCAA National Volleyball Tournament at the Venue at UCF in Orlando. The hurdle in their way of the second round: host and AAC Regular Season Champion #21 UCF (27-4).

Before FGCU played UCF, #16 Florida (25-6) shutout RV FSU 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-13) also in Orlando. With the win, the Gators advanced to the second round and awaited the winner between FGCU and UCF. Florida will now go to the second round for the 28th straight year under head coach Mary Wise while the Seminoles have ended their season at 19-10.

It was sophomore Paige Hammons that took most of the reins on offense. Hammons finished with 16 kills and three blocks.

Junior Rachael Kramer and freshman Thayer Hall finished with nine kills each. Kramer was also dominant on the defensive side as she added nine blocks.

Assisting-wise, the Monserez sister, redshirt senior Marlie and freshman Allie, had a combined 36 assists (20 for Marlie, 16 for Allie).

Along with Kramer's nine blocks, junior Allie Gregory also played spot on defensively as she finished with 22 digs and two aces.

For the Seminoles, junior Payton Caffrey led the way offensively with 14 kills and two blocks, Redshirt freshman Adrian Ell and senior Brianne Burkert had a combined 24 assists (11 for Ell, 13 for Burkert) and 16 digs (Ell: 9, Burkert: 7).

Defensively, senior Kelsey Wicinski finished with 14 digs and five assists.

"This was one of our most complete performances all season," said Wise. "One of our goals has always been to be playing the best volleyball at the end. Tonight was the perfect indication of how this team has grown and evolved. They have fought through adversity and have taken on challenges."

"The growth that this team has done, both individually and collectively, is far more important than the number."

Now let's fast forward to FGCU vs UCF. What was at stake for both teams? Well let's state the obvious, the team advances to the second round to face Florida, but both team are riding on multi-match winning streaks (FGCU: 15, UCF: 24).

The Eagles kept swooping and clawing at the Knights in a nail biter of a match, but the third time proved to be the charm for FGCU this season as they upset UCF 3-2 (17-25, 25-22, 25-23, 14-25, 15-7). With the win, FGCU is not only now 2-5 against UCF, but are now going to the second round of the national tournament still at Venue at UCF in Orlando with a program high 16-match winning streak while the Knights' 24-match winning streak, the fourth longest and the longest DI record in school history, came to an end. In addition, the Eagles are the only current A-SUN school with an NCAA Tournament victory.

"I've said all season there's been nothing more rewarding than watching the emotions of our players when we've done something like this," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "Obviously we haven't done something like this before, but winning the conference championship for the first time, now going through this experience. It's just special for me to see that. I'm ecstatic, really pleased with the way we performed and the way we gutted it out. It was obviously a very close match, but in that fifth set, they were aggressive and did everything we asked them to do."

"I'm ecstatic and really pleased with the way we performed and the way we gutted it out was a really close match, but that fifth set, they were aggressive and did all the things we asked for them to do."

Offensively, five Eagles had a double-double in the match: sophomore Cortney VanLiew (25 kills and 12 digs) and Snowy Burnam (15 kills and 26 digs), senior Maggie Rick (27 assists and 11 digs) and freshmen Dana Axner (29 digs and 10 assists) and Chelsea Lockey (18 assists and 12 digs).

"It's a bit of a whirlwind in there right now," Rick said of her thoughts after the match. "We're just so excited. We had a lot of goals for this season, and we had a lot of expectations. We knew we were going to be good. The fact that, especially in my senior year, we have been able to go out and do things that this program has never done is indescribable. It's an incredible experience."

"I think we always kind of knew that we were special and coach believed in us and always having him behind us pushing to be better to be the best that we can be," said VanLiew on the win. "It's just an amazing feeling to not only accomplish that for ourselves, but also the coaching staff, who has been here and I just think like what Maggie said that it's an indescribable feeling and feels unreal.

VanLiew also added an ace and two blocks. With her 25 kills the Seymour native now has 778 career kills and 530 career digs. VanLiew is 23 kills away from becoming the seventh Eagle to reach 800 in her career. In addition to her 12 digs, VanLiew passed Ingrid Felicio (524, 2004-05) for 17th all-time in career digs, and is 23 shy of passing Jill Hopper (552, 2011-13) for 16th all-time.

For Burnam, this was her seventh double-double of the season, 10th in her career. Burnam's 15 kills put her at 439 in her career and is 15 shy from passing Christine Pinder (453, 2012-13) and Marlene Moeller (453, 2013-16) for 19th all-time. Burnam also added an assist. In addition, the Palm City native's 26 digs were a career-high.

Rick's double-double was her 12th this season and 22nd in her career. With her 27 assists, Rick extends her career assist amount to 4,528. In addition, Rick's 11 digs put her at 829 in her career. Rick also added four kills and a block.

For Axner, this was her first collegiate double-double. She also added her second collegiate kill to the mix. With her 29 digs, Axner now has 607 this season (5.19 per set) and has now set the all-time program single season record for most digs as she passed Whitney Hendry's 2005 season dig record (606). In fact, Axner's 607 digs have passed Pinder (603, 2012-13) at 14th all-time in career digs. The Dublin, Ohio native is nine away from passing Jelena Simic (615, 2009, 2011) for 13th all-time.

In addition, since UCF was ranked in the top 25 (#21), this is the first time that the Eagles defeated a nationally ranked team.

"This was Maggie's last season and we talked about all these different benchmarks that we had and it's getting harder and harder to add to those list of firsts," said Botsford on beating a top 25 team. "Before this weekend, we talked about exactly that. We've never beat a ranked team and we're coming in playing a seeded team. It would be a nice thing to do send those seniors off the right way and give some of these younger players experience like that to help raise the bar, so it was a pretty amazing opportunity for us and I'm glad we took advantage of it."

Along with the five Eagles with double-doubles, junior Giovanna "Giogio" Borgiotti also added on to her career as she finished with seven kills, a block and three digs. Borgiotti's seven kills put her at 493 in her career and is seven shy from being the 16th player to reach 500 career kills.

Defensively, along with Axner's 29 digs, the Block Party (Borgiotti, VanLiew, junior Daniele Serrano, seniors Sharonda Pickering and Kaiti Krivdo, and freshman Tori Morris) had a combined eight total blocks (16 block assists) with Serrano and Pickering leading the way with four each. Serrano, Pickering, Krivdo and Morris also added a combined 11 kills to go with VanLiew's 25, Burnam's 15 and Borgiotti's seven for a combined 58 kills.

Despite the four blocks (all block assists), Serrano was held to only one kill in 20 attempts. She now has 613 kills in her career, 362 career total blocks and 308 career blocks assists.

Senior Karissa Rhoades also contributed with two digs, which put her at 876 in her career.

Along with Botsford, long time assistant coach Daniel Mahy and first time FGCU assistant coach Stephanie Zelinski also earned their first DI national tournament win as coaches. Mahy earned his 266th career win with the Eagles and 294th overall while Zelinski earned her 55th win.

For the Knights, Melville turned in her 22nd double-double of the year. The American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year went for 24 kills, 16 digs and three blocks.

Nerissa Moravec matched her career-high with 11 kills at a blistering .526 attack percentage. The redshirt sophomore also led the way, along with Amber Olson, with five blocks.

The loss spelled an end to landmark career of senior Jordan Pingel, easily the best libero and one of the top players in program history. The Colorado Springs native left it all on the court for the final time, recording 26 digs on the night. With her second save of the evening, Pingel broke the single-season digs record. The single-season and career digs champ at UCF finished with 597 on the year and 2,262 for her four seasons at UCF.

Freshman Amber Olson Olson had the lion’s share of setting duties with her 10th double-double of the year, a 42-dime, 15-dig performance. Alli Sabol also stepped up in a mixed setter-right side role. The Dublin, Ohio, native notched 10 assists with three digs and one block.

In the opening set, UCF jumped out to a 10-4 lead, pushed it to as many as eight and never trailed to take the lead. FGCU responded by scoring the first three points of the next set, punctuated by a kill from VanLiew. The lead grew to eight 13 points later, although UCF trimmed the deficit to 19-17 late in the set. Borgiotti answered with a kill to spur a 3-0 run. VanLiew and Burnam added two kills late before Pickering evened the match with a right-side kill.

The momentum continued in the third set for the Eagles as they scored three of the first four points. UCF bounced back to take a 6-4 lead, but a free-ball kill from Axner spurred a 4-0 run as the Eagles took a 10-7 lead. The Knights rallied to tie it at 11, but VanLiew, Pickering and Burnam each recorded kills during a 7-0 run. UCF rallied to even it up at 22 apiece, but VanLiew responded with a kill, followed by a UCF ball-handling error. Rick then ended the set with a dump kill to give FGCU a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth set, UCF scored the first three points, led by as many as 10 and never trailed en route to forcing a deciding set. FGCU scored four of the first six points in the fifth and reeled off four straight moments later, highlighted by three kills from VanLiew, to take an 8-3 lead into the side switch and media timeout.

Burnam added another kill to make it 10-5. A successful attack from Borgiotti, followed by back-to-back attack errors from UCF, made it 13-6. The Eagles then got another kill from Burnam before capturing the match on an attack error by the Knights.

First Round Match Scores:

Texas Regional:
Texas State (26-6) def Rice (24-6) 3-1 ( 23-25, 25-22, 25-22, 27-25)
Host #5 Texas (20-4) def Stephen F. Austin (32-2) 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-21)

Oregon Region:
#25 Baylor (19-8) def Hawaii (18-8) 3-2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-14, 26-24, 16-14)
#15 Oregon ( def New Mexico State 3-1 (25-22, 18-25, 25-21, 25-11)

Wisconsin Region:
#6 Wisconsin (22-6) def Green Bay (22-10) 3-0 (25-9, 27-25, 25-15)
Pepperdine (21-8) def Northern Iowa (24-9) 3-2 (25-22, 25-21, 19-25, 20-25, 15-13)

NIVC First Round Match Scores:
Bradley 3, Bowling Green 2 (26-24, 21-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-13)
Iowa State 3, Drake 0 (25-16, 27-25, 25-22)
Wichita St. 3, Central Arkansas 2 (20-25, 25-18, 25-13, 23-25, 15-11)
North Texas 3, Tulsa 1 (13-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-21)
Fresno St. 3, UC Santa Barbara 2 (25-23, 22-25, 25-16, 26-28, 15-11)
UNLV 3, UC Irvine 0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-19)
Portland 3, Northern Colorado 0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-18)
Utah Valley 3, Wyoming 2 (11-25, 28-26, 23-25, 25-22, 21-19)
California Baptist 3, Little Rock 2 (17-25, 25-12, 25-17, 20-25, 15-11)
Tulane 3, Arkansas State 2 (23-25, 27-25, 22-25, 25-8, 15-13)
Valparaiso 3, Ball State 1 (25-9, 13-25, 25-23, 25-18)
Miami-Ohio 3, Northern Kentucky 0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-22)
College of Charleston 3, St. John’s 1 (19-25, 25-20, 26-24, 25-18)
Georgia Tech 3, USF 2 (19-25, 14-25, 25-21, 25-17, 15-9)
Radford 3, Appalachian State 1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-19)
Clemson 3, Alabama A&M 0 (25-9, 25-19, 25-15)

Up Next:
The Eagles prepare for round two against #16 Florida on Friday, November 30 at 7 p.m. still at The Venue at UCF in Orlando. The winner of the second round advances to the BYU Regional in Provo, Utah and will face either #4 BYU (27-1), Stony Brook (21-8), RV Utah (18-13) and RV Denver (27-2). Honestly, chances are it's gonna be #4 BYU that wins the first and second round.

Series History vs UF:
This will be the second time both teams face each other. The first time was on August 25, 2012 where the Gators won 3-0 in Gainsville. It will remain on UCF's athletics page

Livestream Link: https://www.ucfknights.tv/game/tbd-at-tbd-on-11302018

Liveestats Link: https://www.ncaa.com/game/volleyball-women/d1/2018/11/30/fgcu-florida

Dunk City vs FIU Recap

The FGCU men's basketball team fell 81-80 to Florida International Wednesday night inside Alico Arena.

The Eagles (2-7) recorded eight dunks in the contest, while the Panthers improved to 7-1 on the year.

RaySean Scott, Jr. finished with a career-high 14 rebounds and added 12 points off the bench for the first double-double of his career. The junior also tallied four assists and a block in 27 minutes. Classmate Brady Ernst posted a career-high 15 points, while contributing seven boards and three blocks.

FGCU had five different players score in double figures, including the senior trio of Dinero Mercurius (14), Haanif Cheatham (14) and Schadrac Casimir (10).

The Eagles shot 47.6 percent (30-for-63) from the field, 33.3 percent (6-for-18) from behind the 3-point line and 53.8 percent (14-for-26) at the free-throw stripe.

Brian Beard, Jr. tallied a game-high 21 points for the visitors. He was joined in double figures by Devon Andrews (15), Willy Nunez, Jr. (14) and Trejon Jacob (13).

The Panthers shot an even 50 percent (32-for-64) from the field and had shooting clips of 36.4 (12-for-33) from distance and 41.7 (5-for-12) at the line.

Florida International began the game with a 12-8 edge in the opening five minutes. The home team responded with a 9-0 run to swing momentum to its side of the court. Florida Gulf Coast continued to build that advantage until finding a game-high lead of 15 points at 39-24 with five minutes remaining in the first half. FIU stayed within striking distance, however, and was able to squeeze the deficit down to 41-34 at the break.

The visitors erupted out of the locker room and used a 23-6 run in the first six minutes to go on top 57-47. FGCU had to play catch-up from that point on. The Eagles continued to chip away until a 3-pointer from Scott, Jr. with 42 seconds left gave the home side a 79-78 lead. Cheatham made a free throw to give FGCU a two-point edge, but Beard, Jr. had one more dagger in him. He made a contested triple late in the shot clock with 14 seconds left to put FIU up one, and the final two opportunities for FGCU to steal the win ended in narrow misses.

Up Next:
FGCU will look to snap its current five-game losing skid when the team plays host to Colgate at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 2 inside Alico Arena. The single contest will be the second of five Blueouts scheduled for this season.

Raining 3s vs Houston Recap

Opening up the first game of the doubleheader, the FGCU women's basketball team (5-2) pulled off a close game as they defeated Houston (3-5) 76-71 in their first ever matchup.

"Basically, we just hung on at the end," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "I thought we got off to a really good start, got the lead early. In the second half, I thought it looked like we were running out of gas with a lot of front rim misses. All of a sudden, our defense, that I thought was really good in the first half, making them take tough shots, keeping them out of the paint, wasn't getting back as early. We left some gaps, and they were aggressively attacking the paint and getting a lot of layups on us.

"It was a tough game. We turned the ball over too much. A lot of them led to easy baskets. So, there's a lot that we can learn from that. We feel good that we beat a good team."

Smesko was honored prior to the game for recording his 500th career victory in this past Sunday's win over American.

It was redshirt sophomore Chandler Ryan that led the Eagles on the offensive front. Playing off the bench, Ryan led the Eagles with a career-high 19 points (5-7, 4-6 3PT, 5-5 FT), two rebounds, two assists and one steal. Ryan's previous career-high was the 13 she scored against Florida Memorial on Nov. 12, and it was her fourth double-digit performance of the season. She has scored just 26 points fewer this year (62) than all of last season (88) through only seven games.

Not too far behind Ryan was junior Nasrin Ulel as she led all the starters with 17 points (6-16, 3-9 3PT, 2-2 FT). Ulel has five straight games in double figures - averaging 17.2 PPG over that stretch.

Redshirt junior Keri Jewett-Giles and redshirt senior Lisa Zderadicka also reached double digit points. Jewett-Giles had 14 points (5-11, 4-6 FT), three rebounds and five assists while Zderadicka had 15 points (6-13, 1-4 3PT, 2-3 FT), three rebounds and three assists. Zderadicka's tally was one shy of her season-high, while Jewett-Giles produced her sixth straight game with at least 14 points while adding a game-high five assists and a team-high two steals.

Junior Tytionia Adderly finished with five points and eight rebounds before fouling out. Adderly's eight rebounds put her at 605 as she passed Courtney Chihil (603, 2008-12) for fifth all-time. Adderly became just the sixth player in program history to record at least 600 career rebounds.

Two of her rebounds were offensive in which she now has 252 and is 78 away from passing Sarah Hansen (329, 2010-14) as the all-time leader in career offensive rebounds.

On the defensive side, Adderly's six defensive rebounds put her at 353 and is 29 away from passing Taylor Grandijan (381, 2012-13, 2014-18) for sixth all-time.

Redshirt senior Destiny Washington-Mabon earned her first start of the season as she produced four points, seven rebounds, three assists and a team-high two blocks.

The Eagles led 61-43 entering the final quarter, but Houston scored 19 of the first 21 points to trim its deficit to just one with 2:39 left. The two teams then traded free throws until Jewett-Giles found a cutting Ulel for a layup and a three-point lead. Houston responded with another pair of free throws, but Ryan found Ulel for a 3-pointer and a four-point lead with 37 seconds left.

On the ensuing possession, Houston was called for an illegal screen, which spurred a technical foul on head coach Ronald Hughey. Ryan then buried four straight free throws, including the two technical shots, to push the lead to eight and essentially seal the game.

Houston was led offensively by junior guard Angela Harris who finished with a season-high 16 points.

Senior Serithia Hawkins finished the game with 13 points, while pulling down 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season and the 20th of her career. For Hawkins, she played her 100th game for the Cougars

Senior Myyah West also reached double figures with a season-high 12 points.

Houston forced FGCU to turn the ball over 19 times in the game, making eight-straight games of at least 19 turnovers forced.

Up Next:
FGCU will be back in action next Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Saint Francis (Pa.). They will return home Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. against Johnson and Wales (Fla.).

Dunk City vs FIU Preview

The FGCU men's basketball team (2-6) returns home for the third time this season to play host to Florida International  (6-1)at 8 p.m. Nov. 28 at Alico Arena as part of a doubleheader as the women (4-2) play Houston (3-4) at 5 p.m. The game will be presented by Dunkin' Donuts. The Eagles have hit a four-game skid, while the Panthers are enjoying the best start to a season in school history.

Last Time Out:
FGCU dropped an 85-68 decision to Florida Atlantic Sunday afternoon inside FAU Arena. Senior Haanif Cheatham led FGCU with a 20-point effort on the strength of a 7-for-11 shooting performance. Fellow seniors Schadrac Casimir and Dinero Mercurius both chipped in 15 points. FGCU finished with a 45.1 clip (23-for-51) from the field, while shooting 36.4 percent (8-for-22) from distance and 77.8 percent (14-for-18) at the free-throw line.

Journey to 1,000:
One current Eagle has already reached the 1,000 point mark as senior transfer Casimir has 1,202 career points, most of those coming at Iona where he transferred from.

Mercurius is the next closest, as he is less than 100 points away from reaching the mark. His 943 career points have come between stops at USF, Daytona State and now at FGCU.

Despite playing just five games during his junior season at Marquette, Cheatham also has the 1,000 point mark in his sights as he currently sits at 826 career points.

Milestone Watch:
As a program, the Eagles are currently 196-173 as a Division I member. With four more victories, they will join the 200-win club.

Series History:
FGCU and Florida International are all locked up at 5-5 in the all-time series. The Panthers captured the opening two contests in 2002 and 2004, but the green and blue picked up the next three triumphs stretching from 2007-12. FIU has won three of the last five meetings. FGCU is 3-1 against the Panthers in Alico Arena.

How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be available and will air on ESPN+. The commentary at FGCU will be led by play-by-play commentator Tom James and color commentator J. Webb Horton.

Fans can also keep up on Twitter:
FGCU: @FGCU_MBB
FIU: @FIUHoops

Promotions:
As part of the doubleheader, the following promotions are as listed:
1. Whiteout: Fans are encouraged to wear white to show their FGCU spirit.
2.Theme- Star Wars Night: Fans are encouraged to also wear anything involving Star Wars
3. Spirit Cup: Greeks will compete in attendance and spirit for $100 towards their philanthropy
4. Toy Drive: both teams will be accepting toys as part of the holiday to drive for children.
5. Feed FGCU: Bring canned food, benefiting the FGCU food pantry

ESPN+:
FGCU will air on the subscription-based digital platform ESPN+,  the new home for all A-SUN sports. Subscribers can try the new app for free for 30 days, which follows to $4.99 a month fee afterwards.

Livestats link: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=238813

ESPN+ link: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/75851edc-d17c-436b-a6d8-46b163799d70/florida-international-vs-florida-gulf-coast

Raining 3s vs Houston Preview

The FGCU women's basketball team (4-2) return home on Wednesday night, November 28 at 5 P.M. as they welcome Houston (3-4)  to the Alico Arena. The game will be a part of a doubleheader as the men's basketball team welcomes FIU at 8 P.M.

Last Time Out:
The Eagles wrapped up a weekend of sunshine, surf, palm trees, hula skirts, fire dancers and Spam musubi as they competed in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown in Honolulu, hosted by Hawaii. The Eagles finished the invitational 2-1 losing 88-65 to #7 Stanford before winning 73-67 against host Hawaii and 90-71 against American University.

Coach 500:
Head coach Karl Smesko's win against American was his 500th in his career. Smesko remains as one of three active coach

Leading the way for the Eagles is redshirt junior Keri Jewett-Giles and junior Nasrin Ulel.

Since transferring from Southern Miss, Jewett-Giles has led the Eagles on the tear. The hometown hero of Ft. Myers is averaging 16 points per game, along with two rebounds, nearly three assists and 1.5 steals per game. In fact, at the Rainbow Wahine Showdown, Jewett-Giles averaged 18 points and as a result, she was named A-SUN Player and Newcomer of the Week for the second straight week and the first to do so in A-SUN history and named on the All-Rainbow Wahine Showdown Team.

"Keri had an outstanding tournament in Hawaii," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "She is aggressively attacking the paint and hitting the 3-point shot. That makes her very hard to guard."

Ulel is now averaging 14 points per game. In four straight games, she has scored at least 10 points or higher. The Murrieta, California native averaged 19 points at the Rainbow Wahine Showdown which included a season-high 28 points against American. Ulel also joined Jewett-Giles on the All-Rainbow Wahine Showdown Team.

Redshirt senior Lisa Zderadicka has also been a key factor for the Eagles offensively. Zderadicka is averaging 9.5 points and leads the team in steals (11). The Vienna, Austria native averaged 11 points in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown

Off the bench, it's been redshirt sophomore Chandler Ryan and redshirt senior Destiny Washington that have helped balance the bench.

Despite dropping down in the last two games, Ryan is still averaging 7.2 points per game and is tied with Jewett-Giles for the most three pointers made (14).

Washington has been on fire defensively. The Ball State transfer is averaging 5.5 points per game and is leading the team in blocks (8). Washington-Mabon finished with nine points against American University.

Scouting Houston:
This will be the first time both teams will play each other. The Cougars are coming off of a heartbreaking 89-84 double overtime loss to New Mexico. At home, the Cougars are 1-2 with their only home win against Georgia Tech.

Junior Jasmyn Harris is averaging 20.9 points per game. In the double OT loss to New Mexico, Harris finished with a triple-double of 28 points and 10 steals, but also had 13 turnovers too.

Redshirt sophomore Alyssa Okoene is averaging 11.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Okoene also had a double-double of 12 points and 19 rebounds.

How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be available and will air on ESPN+. The commentary at FGCU will be led by play-by-play commentator Dave Moulton and color commentator J. Webb Horton.

Fans can also keep up on Twitter:
FGCU: @FGCU_WBB
Houston: @UHCougarWBB

Promotions:
As part of the doubleheader, the following promotions are as listed:
1. Whiteout: Fans are encouraged to wear white to show their FGCU spirit.
2.Theme- Star Wars Night: Fans are encouraged to also wear anything involving Star Wars
3. Spirit Cup: Greeks will compete in attendance and spirit for $100 towards their philanthropy
4. Toy Drive: both teams will be accepting toys as part of the holiday to drive for children.
5. Feed FGCU: Bring canned food, benefiting the FGCU food pantry

ESPN+:
FGCU will air on the subscription-based digital platform ESPN+,  the new home for all A-SUN sports. Subscribers can try the new app for free for 30 days, which follows to $4.99 a month fee afterwards.

Livestats link: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=242017

ESPN+ link: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/3e90e9e9-cfa6-48cc-b792-2485ecac81be/houston-vs-florida-gulf-coast

Dunk City vs FAU Recap

The FGCU men's basketball team (2-6) dropped an 85-68 decision to Florida Atlantic Sunday afternoon inside FAU Arena. The Eagles fell for the fourth game in a row, while the Owls improved to 6-1 on the campaign.

Senior Haanif Cheatham led FGCU with a 20-point effort on the strength of a 7-for-11 shooting performance. Fellow seniors Schadrac Casimir and Dinero Mercurius both chipped in 15 points.

FGCU finished with a 45.1 clip (23-for-51) from the field, while shooting 36.4 percent (8-for-22) from distance and 77.8 percent (14-for-18) at the free-throw line.

Xavian Stapleton poured in six 3-point baskets and finished with a career-high 27 points. Jailyn Ingram had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Jaylen Sebree registered 12 points off the bench.

FAU shot 48.5 percent (32-for-66) from the field, 33.3 percent (11-for-33) from behind the 3-point arc and 58.8 percent (10-for-17) at the free-throw line.

The Eagles were able to play to an 8-7 advantage four minutes into the game, but a 20-4 run over the next seven minutes would be enough for the Owls to gain a 27-12 edge. FGCU cut the deficit down to 11 with five minutes remaining in the opening half, but another spurt from the home team gave FAU a 48-29 halftime lead.

The Eagles fought back to within 63-53 at the midway point of the second half, but the Owls would not allow FGCU to get the deficit inside double digits. FAU stretched its lead back out to 20 before settling for the final 17-point margin.

Up Next:
The Eagles will return home for the first of four Whiteout games scheduled for this season. They will play host to Florida International at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 28. The contest will be the second of a doubleheader with the women's team, who will face Houston at 5 p.m.

FGCU VB: National Tournament Selection Show

After claiming the A-SUN Conference Volleyball Tournament Championship for the first time in program history, the FGCU volleyball team (26-6) awaited the moment they've been waiting for: The NCAA Selection Show, which aired on ESPNU Sunday night. The Eagles hosted a viewing party in the hospitality suite at the Alico Arena, which was free and open to the public.

In the wake of the Eagles' name being drawn, so many other names were drawn and was unbearable to find out. Of course, I was at home in Bradenton watching the show, and my how I wish I was there. I bet the team would be so happy to see that I traveled all the way to Ft. Myers just to watch the selection show with them.

How We Got There:
The Eagles began their season on the road for the first six matches on the road as they finished 4-2 including big wins against FAU (11-3) and Power 5 Miami (13-11) in the Sunshine State Classic and a win against New Mexico State (24-7) in the Lobo.

At home, the Eagles had their home opener in the Alico Arena with the Homewood Suites Fort Myers/FGCU Classic where they finished 1-2, which included a heartbreaking, nail biting 3-2 loss to Power 5 West Virginia (11-18).

The Eagles would return on the road for their final non-conference tournament in the VolleyKnights Invitational in Orlando 2-1 with wins over Ivy League Champion Yale (19-4) and SWAC Champion Alabama State (23-16) before beginning A-SUN Conference play.

At the start of conference, the Eagles began their first four matches on the road in success before returning to the Alico Arena for their three straight home matches. During their road trip, the Eagles face A-SUN newcomer North Alabama (4-21) where they won 3-0 in which it was head coach Matt Botsford's 100th win with FGCU.

After starting their conference home opener with a loss to Kennesaw State (24-7) and a win against Lipscomb (18-12), the Eagles continued to push forward and win their matches in conference play, which included a 3-2 win against the second A-SUN newcomer Liberty (15-17) and the exclusions of their final two non-conference against Bethune-Cookman (16-16) and FIU (19-12).

In their second match against Kennesaw State, the Eagles managed to get payback with a 3-1 win at Kennesaw before wrapping up their part of the regular season with a 3-1 win against Liberty at their final home match, in which it was senior day for five seniors: Karissa Rhoades, Maggie Rick, Kaiti Krivdo, Sharonda Pickering and Amanda Carroll. As a result of the win, the Eagles were named the A-SUN Regular Season Champions for the first time since 2012 before winning the  A-SUN Conference Volleyball Tournament Championship for the first time in program history.

Prior to the A-SUN tournament, the Eagles earned a combined 16 A-SUN awards and accolades:
A-SUN Player of the Year: sophomore Cortney VanLiew
A-SUN Coach of the Year: Botsford
A-SUN Defensive Player and A-SUN Freshman of the Year: Dana Axner
A-SUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year: senior Maggie Rick

A-SUN All-Conference First Team: VanLiew, Axner and Pickering
A-SUN All-Conference Second Team: Rick and junior Daniele Serrano
A-SUN All-Freshman Team: Axner, Tori Morris and Chelsea Lockey
A-SUN All-Academic Team: Rick and VanLiew
Google Cloud CoSIDA All-Academic District 4 First Team: VanLiew
A-SUN All-Tournament Team: Axner, VanLiew and Serrano (MVP)

Tournament Coaching Experience:
For Botsford, this is not his first time in the NCAA DI National Tournament. In fact, Botsford has been to the national tournament on four different occasions prior to FGCU as an assistant coach with Notre Dame ('09 First Round) and Colorado ('11 2nd Round, '12-'13 First Round). This will actually be his first time he will go to the national tournament as a head coach.

Along with Botsford, long time assistant volleyball coach Daniel Mahy also has NCAA tournament experience with FGCU. In fact, in Mahy's first two seasons, when FGCU was a NCAA DII independent school, the Eagles went to the NCAA South Regionals as a semifinalist ('04) and as a regional runner-up ('05). When he was in his first season with Barry in 2006, the Buccaneers went to the 2nd round of the NCAA South Regional Tournament.

In the championship match against Kennesaw, Mahy got his 265th win with FGCU and his 293rd overall while first-time FGCU assistant coach and former Rutgers All-American Stephanie Zelinski earned her 54th career win. For Zelinski, this is her first taste of the NCAA Tournament as a coach.

What it do VanLiew:
Since Carroll's injury in the Lobo Classic, VanLiew has been stepping up to the plate offensively and defensively. Offensively, the reigning A-SUN Player of the Year leads the team with 445 kills and is second in aces (26). Defensively, VanLiew is second in digs (295) while also adding 45 blocks.

In the A-SUN championship match, VanLiew had a double-double of 13 kills and 12 digs. In her career, VanLiew has 753 kills and 518 digs. She was the ninth Eagle to reach 700 kills and the 18th to reach 500 digs.

Spice Burns:
Serrano still remains hot both on offense and defense. Offensively, Serrano currently has 222 kills in her name (third on the team) while defensively leads in total blocks (157). Serrano, who was named on the A-SUN All-Conference Second Team and A-SUN All-Tournament Team, has made history on a few occasions as she is the all-time leader in total blocks (358) and block assists (304). In solo blocks, Serrano has 54 (2nd all-time) and is nine away from passing Olivia Mesner (62, 2011-14) as the all-time leader. Serrano has 612 career kills on the offensive front. In the championship match against Kennesaw, Serrano had 13 kills and five blocks (two solo) while being named the A-SUN All-Tournament Team MVP.

400 to 500:
As I was looking at the program's record book, I somehow stumbled upon a few other accolades that I didn't even realize. It turned that junior Giovanna Borgiotti and sophomore Snowy Burnam have made accolades of their own.

Borgiotti is currently fifth on the team in kills (181) and blocks (56). In fact, Borgiotti has 486 career kills and is 14 away from being the 16th player to reach 500 career kills as she passed Brittany Muse (480, 2009-12) for 16th all-time. In the championship match against Kennesaw, the Vienna, Virginia native had five kills and three blocks.

Burnam is second on the team in kills (237) and fourth in blocks (58). In the championship match against Kennesaw, Burnam had a double-double of 12 kills and 16 digs. In fact, Burnam has 424 kills in her career as she was the 22nd Eagle to reach 400 career kills. This season, Burnam has six double-doubles and 10 in her career.

Sharpen the Ax:
Axner came in clutch as the starting libero. The reigning A-SUN Freshman and Defensive of the Year is the first player in the A-SUN to earn both awards in the same season while she leads the team and the A-SUN with 578 digs (5.16 digs per set).

The Dublin, Ohio native is third all-time in most digs in a single season after she passed Whitney Hendry (514 digs) and is 23 away from passing Vanessa Benke (558) for second all-time. In fact, Axner already ranks 12th in career digs just 30 matches into her career. Axner is 29 away from passing Whitney Hendry's 2005 season dig record (606) and holding the all-time single season digs record and is 27 away from passing Christine Pinder (603, 2012-13) for 14th all-time in career digs. In the championship match against Kennesaw, Axner had 27 digs, three aces and an assist.

Pick Your Hits:
Senior Sharonda Pickering is second in the nation in hitting percentage at .426 this season. The native of Sea Cow's Bay, Tortola, BVI is one point behind Wisconsin's 6-8 Dana Retteke (.427). Pickering is fourth on the team with 211 kills and second behind Serrano in total blocks (123). In the championship match against Kennesaw, Pickering had nine kills and five blocks.

Block Party in Alico:
The Block Party (Serrano, VanLiew, Burnam, Pickering, Krivdo, Borgiotti and Morris) have a combined 553 total blocks with Serrano leading the team and the A-SUN in total blocks (157). The squad had 23 total blocks (six solo) in the championship match against Kennesaw.

The Eagles are ranked in the top 50 in a few other categories in the nation:
1. Opponent hitting percentage (.139, #2)
2. Blocks per set  (2.88, #7)
3. Hitting percentage (.266, #18)
4. Kills per set (13.67, #47)
5. Winning percentage (.813, #18)
6. Total blocks (323, #5)

Automatic Entries:

Before the selection show, 32 teams claimed their conference and earned an automatic bid in the tournament. 10 of the teams do not have a conference tournament and are determined by their regular season.

Teams without a conference tournament:

*SEC: #10 Kentucky (22-4)
*ACC: #11 Pittsburgh (29-1)
*Big Ten: #2 Minnesota (25-3): #2 seed
*Big 12: #5 Texas (20-4)
*PAC 12: #1 Stanford (28-1): #1 seed
*AAC: #21 UCF (27-3)
*Ivy: Yale (19-4)
*Big West: #13 Cal Poly (25-2)
*WCC: #4 BYU (27-1): #4 seed
*MW: Colorado State (23-7)

*Determined by regular season championship

Teams with a conference tournament and final scores:
A-SUN: FGCU (26-6) def Kennesaw 3-2
AEC: Stony Brook (21-8) def Albany 3-2
MEAC: Howard (20-10) def NC A&T 3-0
SWAC: Alabama State (23-16) def Alabama A&M 3-1
C-USA: Rice (24-6) def FIU 3-0
NEC: Bryant (22-12) def Sacred Heart 3-0
OVC; Murray State (22-9) def Austin Peay 3-0
MAC: Eastern Michigan (21-13) def Miami (OH) 3-2
MAAC: Iona (20-7) def Canisus 3-1
CAA: Hofstra (25-7) def James Madsion 3-2
Summit: South Dakota (21-9) def Denver 3-2
Horizon: Green Bay (20-10) def North Kentucky 3-0
Southland: Stephen F. Austin (32-2) def Central Arkansas 3-0
SoCon: Samford (19-14) def ETSU 3-1
Patriot: Navy (23-8) def American 3-2
Big South: High Point (21-9) def Radford 3-0
Sun Belt: Texas State (26-6) def Appalachian St 3-0
A-10: Dayton (23-7) def VCU 3-2
WAC: New Mexico State (24-7) def Utah Valley 3-1
Big East: #9 Creighton (28-4) def #15 Marquette 3-1
MVC: RV Northern Iowa (24-9) def Illinois State 3-1
Big Sky: Northern Arizona (26-6) def Idaho 3-0

As for at-large bids, the following 32 teams qualified for the tournament:
#3 Illinois (28-3): #3 seed
#6 Nebraska (24-4)
#7 Penn State (23-7)
#8 Wisconsin (22-6)
#12 Purdue (23-8)
#14 Oregon (20-10)
#15 Marquette (26-6)
#16 Florida (24-6)
#17 USC (21-10)
#18 Michigan (22-9)
#T-19 Washington State (21-9)
#T-19 Tennessee (25-5)
#22 Washington (18-12)
#23 Arizona (22-10)
#24 Missouri (23-7)
#25 Baylor (19-8)
RV Utah (18-13)
RV Colorado (18-13)
RV Florida State (19-9)
RV Denver (27-2
RV Louisville (21-8)
Loyola Marymount (20-9)
Duke (16-11)
Saint Mary's (19-9)
Syracuse (18-8)
Cincinnati (25-7)
Illinois State (25-7)
San Diego (16-12)
Pepperdine (21-8)
ETSU (28-6)
South Carolina (19-9)
Hawaii (18-8)

Quotes From Coaches Winning Automatic Bids/Getting At-Large Bids:
Automatic Qualifiers-
Stony Brook: "That was exactly what a championship atmosphere should be like," said head coach Kristin Belzung. "Huge thank you to our crowd and students for making Pritchard a hostile environment tonight. Albany came to play. They defended and adjusted throughout the entire match but our group was on a mission. I am so proud of our team for earning the opportunity to represent Stony Brook and the America East in the NCAA Tournament."

Howard: "This was an ugly game offensively," said head coach Shaun Kupferberg. "And a lot of that has to do with A&T's defense. They're a defensive-minded team, just like us, and that showed through tonight."

Alabama State: "I learned more as a coach than I ever have with this team because I had to find a way to reach them and they had to find a way to me and that's the struggle we dealt with all year but I am so appreciative that we never stopped trying and we never stopped reaching out,"  said head coach Penny Lucas-White. "It was a phenomenal match. They were prepared. They were ready. They were excited. They just wanted to get to today and you could tell because they weren't really focused on yesterday's match even though they had to take care of business, but they were so excited to play today."

Rice: "I'm really proud of our team. It was a great match and we came out pretty strong and set the tone early on," said head coach Genny Volpe. "FIU has some tough offensive weapons who are difficult to defend. To watch our team flourish in a championship match was a lot of fun. Sometimes if you're the No. 1 seed you have a little bit of pressure on you but I didn't see that with this team. We were very composed, and confident and were never worried about rankings or outside distractions."

Bryant: "The team leadership, with our five seniors, made this possible and made it happen tonight," said head coach Theresa Garlacy. "It's not just the way they played, but the way they made their teammates feel comfortable. It gave them the confidence to step up and perform when they needed to. That's a huge part of the success we've had all season, and especially this weekend when we had some young players come in and play well in pressure situations."

Murray State: "I'm super excited that we put a lot of work into this year," said head coach David Schwepker. "We had adversity and things we had to go through, and we overcame those things."

South Dakota: "I am so incredibly happy for this team right now,"  said Coach Leanne Williamson. "The players fought so hard as a group and completely trusted each other.

"The team has been working for this moment since day one and we continued to learn throughout the year. Every experience led us to be prepared for today.

Stephen F. Austin: "It means a lot. It's a special, special day and it has been a special season. It has just been a season of firsts in a lot of areas," said head coach Debbie Humphreys. "We have had some long winning streaks in the history of our program and we have won a lot of matches but it was a lot of firsts for this group. September 1, really? That was the last time we lost a match and after thinking about that we thought we just have to finish this thing off. I'm just so proud of how we came out and played today. We played some fantastic volleyball at every position."

Navy: "This win is a culmination of many years of hard work," said head coach Paco Labrador.  "This group of seniors made the tournament as sophomores and reached the finals as juniors.  It was clear from day one this year that these seniors were ready to win a championship this season.

"We are excited for the selection show and for the opportunity to spend more time together in our Navy volleyball family."

High Point: "It feels great to get to the NCAA tournament," head coach Ryan Meek said. "It is a goal we set at the beginning of the year. There have definitely been some ups and downs. This is a ten-month process for us. We are in January and February lifting weights and training to get to this point. It isn't just the three months of season we saw. It's that whole ten-month period of sacrifice on all of our parts. It feels great to get rewarded for that. These girls really set the precedent for what High Point volleyball is and is going to be. It is great to see them go out with, not just an NCAA Tournament, but with two conference championships."

Colorado State: "We did a good job blocking the middles early in the match, and then Katie Oleksak was great blocking on the right side today," said head coach Tom Hilbert. "She shut a bunch of people down and had a couple of really critical blocks. I was very, very pleased with how we got UNLV very off balance and shut down the things they like to do. We also hit the ball very well. It was a great overall match."

"I was sitting on my couch when we were 3-2, talking to my daughter and she's asking me, 'Are we getting in the NCAA Tournament?' and I said 'I think, because Fresno State is good, we're going to have to win the rest of our matches', and we won the rest of our matches. We have one more to complete that, and that's a pretty amazing thing that this team has been able to do."

At-Large Bids-
#8 Wisconsin: "You have 64 teams that are still playing and I'm sure there are 64 teams that are excited about the opportunities that are in front of them. We are certainly one of them," head coach Kelly Sheffield said. "It's cliché but it's true, you can't take anything for granted at this time. You're excited about playing but you're locked in on the opportunities that are in front of you."

"We feel good about the progression we've made this season and I like the progression we've made heading into the tournament," added Sheffield. "I think you want to go into the tournament being tested, which certainly we have in this league. You want to go in (to the tournament).

#14 Oregon: "I'm excited for our seniors, that they get to play in Matthew Knight Arena again, and I'm excited for our fans to have the chance to have the NCAA Tournament in Eugene for volleyball," said head coach Matt Ulmer. "I'm proud of our team. I'm proud that we put ourselves in position to be considered for a seed and to host, and that the committee recognized that. We play in a very tough conference and had a lot of good wins, so I'm just excited to be recognized and have a chance to play another day."

"It's exciting to be in your own gym and have that familiarity," said Ulmer, "and we're just excited to be able to play our best in front of our people."

"(New Mexico State) is always a good blocking team, they always play good floor defense and they always have a couple hitters that play at a really high level," said Ulmer. "We're going to have our hands full. Anytime you play teams that are used to winning, it's always going to be difficult."

#16 Marquette: "I am thrilled for this team and their efforts through the course of the season to now have the opportunity to host," head coach Ryan Theis said. "We hope our Milwaukee volleyball community and the Marquette students come out to create a great environment at the Al. After seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances it is fantastic that we enter the eighth as a national seeded team. It is a terrific honor and achievement for our program."

#22 Washington: "Just a wave of excitement to get to coach this group in the NCAA tournament," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "Starting a little different than we have in years past, hitting the road, but it always feels a little more like the tournament when you're on the road."
#25 Baylor: "We feel grateful to be in the tournament," head coach Ryan McGuyre said. "It's something we come to expect from ourselves. With all the injuries we've had and the up-and-down moments and to battle and finish second in the Big 12, we're pleased with that. We've come a long way at Baylor."

#23 Arizona: "It's always exciting when you're an at-large team and you don't know where you're going to go or who you're going to play against," said head coach Dave Rubio. "It's exciting for us to see that we were selected and we will play Missouri at the at-large regional."

RV Utah: "It's very special whenever you make the NCAA Tournament," head coach Beth Launiere said. "I just told the team, there are about 280 teams that are home wishing they were playing in this tournament. You really have to be one of the best teams in the country to get in this tournament. Playing in the Pac-12, we play great teams all the time and sometimes we forget it takes a lot of hard work and is always special to make it to the NCAA Tournament."

"We had a battle with them the opening weekend so it's kind of ironic to play them in the NCAA tournament," Launiere said. "I remember they were a really good team and it was 16-14 in the fifth set. It was a really intense match. They have a number of seniors on their team and they have a very good program that is well coached."

RV Colorado: "This team played great down the stretch," said Head Coach Jesse Mahoney to the team after the announcement. "We had six matches on the road in our last eight and we had to win five of them to do this. Pretty special and good job by you guys. Really good teams (coming up), obviously. South Carolina in the first round is another very good team. We will get to work watching film and in practice. Congrats, you all played great down the stretch to put us in this situation."

RV Denver: "We are thrilled to continue our season and compete in the NCAA tournament," said head coach Tom Hogan. "We are familiar with Utah having seen them earlier this year in Salt Lake, and we have a lot of respect for their program. Utah is talented from all positions and they have a lot of physicality. It will be a tough match, but we will take it one point at a time and look to execute our systems and strategies."

RV Louisville: "First of all we are excited to be in the tournament, said head coach Dani Busboom Kelly. "We figured we would be but you never know for sure when you are at-large, so to see our names up on the board is exciting. I am happy that we are playing somewhere that we can drive which makes travelling less stressful. Dayton is very, very good. They won their conference and are having an awesome year. As a first round draw, they are really tough. As the third place team in the ACC, we expected to have to play a really good opponent. Then, should we advance, Illinois is a great team they want to host for the first two weekends."

Loyola Marymount: "We are extremely excited to continue competing together," said Head Coach Aaron Mansfield. "We know how competitive every team is in the region and are excited to see how we match up."

South Carolina: "This is an exciting moment, we're really proud and excited and happy for our student-athletes," first-year head coach Tom Mendoza said. "Looking at what this group has been through this year and in years passed I think they're definitely deserving, not just from the resume they put together as far as wins and losses but the way that they've worked together as a group."

The Selection:
The wins against Yale, Alabama State and New Mexico State actually helped the Eagles out because they beat them during the season while the three teams won their conferences. Along with FGCU, Bryant, Eastern Michigan, Syracuse, South Dakota and Navy are also making their first NCAA National Volleyball Tournament appearances.

NIVC:
Meanwhile, 32 teams will play in the second annual revamp of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC).

History Lesson of NIVC:
The original NIVC started in 1989 as a 20-team event and ended in 1995. The inaugural champion was Wisconsin, and the last champions in the tournament before shutting down and being defunct. 21 years later, the NCAA decided to bring back history and bring back the NIVC. In last year's NIVC, Ole Miss was the inaugural champions of the revamp of the tournament after they defeated Texas Tech 3-0.

The list of champions:
1989 – Wisconsin
1990 – Houston
1991 – Kentucky
1992 – Washington State
1993 – Louisiana State
1994 – Cal-State Northridge
1995 – Wisconsin
2017- Ole Miss

NIVC Setup:
The NIVC is simply like this:
1. 64 DI teams from all 32 conferences that did not get berths in the NCAA Tournament will be in line for their opportunity for the postseason.

2. Teams offered an automatic berth shall be the team that is the highest-finishing team in its conference’s regular-season standings, and not selected for the NCAA Tournament in which their overall record is not a criteria. There will, however, be a list of tiebreakers and other criteria involved.

3. The NIVC will give 32 at-large berths to the top teams available. Any team from a Division I conference, or a Division I independent team, will be considered.

4. It is a single-elimination tournament that will feature 32 first-round matches, followed by 16 second-round matches, eight third-round matches, four quarterfinal games, two semifinal matches, and the championship. It's similar to the NIT and WNIT in college basketball.

5. The 32-40 team field will be announced late Sunday, November 25. The first and second rounds will start Tuesday, November 29-30 and December 1-2, with the championship ending Tuesday, December 11.

Participating Teams and Conference Representing:
Iowa State (Big 12)
Drake (MVC)
Bradley (MVC)
North Texas (C-USA)
Bowling Green (MAC)
Tulsa (AAC)
Wichita State (AAC)
Central Arkansas (Southland)
UNLV (MWC)
UC Irvine (Big West)
Fresno State (MWC)
UC Santa Barbara (Big West)
Wyoming (MWC)
Utah Valley (WAC)
Portland (WCC)
Northern Colorado (Big Sky)
Tulane (AAC)
Arkansas State (Sun Belt)
Little Rock (Sun Belt)
Cal Baptist (WAC)
Miami (OH) (MAC)
Northern Kentucky (Horizon)
Valparaiso (MVC)
Ball State (MAC)
Georgia Tech (ACC)
USF (AAC)
College of Charleston (CAA)
St. Johns (Big East)
Clemson (SEC)
Alabama A&M (SWAC)
Appalachian State (Sun Belt)
Radford (Big South)

Breakdown:
As everyone braced for the result, including myself, the result came and the Eagles were going to face UCF in Orlando for the first round as part of the BYU Region. The first and second round will take place at the The Venue at UCF on Thursday, November 29 and Friday, November 30. Joining the Eagles in Orlando will be Florida and Florida State. Florida will play Florida State for the second time this season, and will open the first round in Orlando at 4 P.M. while the UCF and FGCU will follow at 7:30 P.M.

Scouting UCF;
The Knights, who are ranked #21 in the nation, punched their ticket after they claimed the AAC as the regular season champions since they do not have a conference tournament. the Knights went 18-0 in conference with their last loss against #4 Florida

Freshman outside hitter McKenna Melville has been a force to be reckoned with this season, as the rookie ranks 15th and 16th in the nation in kills and points per set.

Fellow rookie Kathryn Wesolich is closing in on the single-season block assists record, and lone senior Jordan Pingel, who has already smashed the program’s career digs record, needs just two saves to break the single-season record.

The Eagles are 1-5 against the Knights as they fell to them in two matches this season. The Eagles' lone win was in 2008.

Scouting Florida:
After finishing third in the SEC, the Gators punched their ticket as an at-large bid.

Offensively, the Gators have five players with 200+ kills with redshirt sophomore Holly Carlton and SEC All-Freshman Team member Thayer Hall leading the Gators. Carlton lead the team in kills (275) while Hall is second (267).

Defensively, junior Allie Gregory leads the Gators in digs (443) while fellow junior All-SEC member Rachael Kramer leads the team in blocks (156).

Should the Eagles face the Gators, then it will be the second time the teams face each other. The first time was on August 25, 2012 where the Gators won 3-0 in Gainsville.

Scouting FSU:
Like their inner state rivals, the Seminoles, who finished second in the ACC, also punched their ticket as an at-large bid.

Offensively, junior Payton Caffrey leads the team in kills (462) and aces (25) while redshirt senior Christina Ambrose is second in kills (307).

Defensively, senior Kelsey Wicinski leads the team in digs (467) while sophomore Taryn Knuth leads in blocks (185) while being third in kills (258).

Should the Eagles face the Seminoles, then it will also be the second time the teams face each other. The first time was on September 7, 2013 where the Seminoles won 3-0 in Tallahassee.

What's at Stake:
Winners go to the second round and that winner will face either winners between #4 BYU, Stony Brook, Utah and Denver.

How to Keep Up:
Both matches will have livestats and will air livestream on the UCF athletics page, which will be free.

For the match between Florida and FSU, it will also be available in audio on ESPN Radio station WRUF 98.1 FM/850 AM

ESPN+:
The National Volleyball Tournament will air on the subscription-based digital platform ESPN+, which will be the new home for some of the NCAA volleyball matches broadcasted. Subscribers can try the new app for free for 30 days, which follows to $4.99 a month fee afterwards.

Fans can also keep up on Twitter:
FGCU: @FGCU_VB
UCF: @UCF_Volleyball
Florida: @GatorsVB
FSU: @FSU_Volleyball

Tickets are also on sale for $6 for both matches.

Ticket sales are also available for the other matches and vary in price:

Livestats link:
UF vs FSU- https://www.ncaa.com/game/volleyball-women/d1/2018/11/29/florida-st-florida

FGCU vs UCF- https://www.ncaa.com/game/volleyball-women/d1/2018/11/29/fgcu-ucf

Livestream:
UF vs FSU- https://www.ucfknights.tv/game/florida-st-at-florida-on-11292018
FGCU vs UCF- https://www.ucfknights.tv/game/florida-gulf-coast-at-ucf-on-11292018

Audio stream for UF vs FSU: http://www.wruf.com/listen-live/

NCAA Tournament Bracket: https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/volleyball-women/d1/2018

NIVC Tournament Bracket: https://www.womensnivc.com/bracket1.html

Raining 3s vs American Recap

Making the historic moment for head coach Karl Smesko, the FGCU women's basketball team (4-2) wrapped up day three of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii as they defeated American University (3-3) 90-71 in their first ever matchup and finished the tournament 2-1. For Smesko, the win against American was his 500th career win with FGCU.

"This was our best performance of the season," Smesko said. "We earned a quality win against a very good team. It is a great way to finish a great trip."

With her team down 10-6 in the opening quarter, junior Nasrin Ulel hit back-to-back 3-pointers to tie it at 12. Moments later, FGCU started a 16-4 run over the final four minutes. Sophomore Alyssa Blair had a free throw, a steal and a fast break layup towards the end of the run, while Ulel converted a three-point play to give the Eagles a 30-19 lead.

American opened the second quarter on a 5-0 run, but the Green and Blue responded with an 11-1 run to take a 41-25 lead. Redshirt junior Keri Jewett-Giles capped the run with three consecutive 3-point field goals as FGCU eventually took an 11-point lead at the break.

In the second half, FGCU went on a 13-0 run that featured 3-point field goals from junior Tytionia Adderly, Ulel, and redshirt senior Lisa Zderadicka as the lead grew to 24 with 4:38 left in the third. From there, the Eagles led by as many as 26 and led by now fewer than 18.

Offensively, Ulel and Jewett-Giles that led the way. Ulel tied her career-high with 28 points (10-18, 7-11 3PT, 1-1 FT) while Jewett-Giles was two points shy of her career-high as she finished with 22 points (7-11, 4-7 3PT, 4-7 FT). Ulel also added six rebounds, three assists and four steals while Jewett-Giles added three assists and two steals.

Adderly also scored in double figures as she hit a season-high 11 points (5-7 FG, 1-3 3PT), six rebounds, an assist and a steal. With her six rebounds, Adderly now has 597 in her career and needs eight to pass Courtney Chihil (603, 2008-12) for fifth all-time. With one of her six rebounds being an offensive rebound, Adderly now has 249 and remains second all-time.

Zderadicka and redshirt senior Destiny Washington finished with nine points and two steals each. Zderadicka added four rebounds, a season-high six assists, and a block while Washington-Mabon added five rebounds and an assist.

In the end, Jewett-Giles and Ulel were named on the All-Rainbow Wahine Showdown Team

Up Next:
The Eagle return home as they face Houston (3-4) on Wednesday, November 28 at 5 P.M as part of a doubleheader with the men's basketball team against FIU at 8 P.M.

Dunk City vs FAU Preview

The Florida Gulf Coast men's basketball team is set to head across Alligator Alley for a game against Florida Atlantic at 3 p.m. Nov. 25 inside FAU Arena.

The Eagles (2-5) come into the contest on the heels of three-straight setbacks to close out the Gulf Coast Showcase, while the Owls (5-1) have picked up three wins in a row after suffering their first setback of the year to Georgia Southern.

Last Time Out:
The Eagles lost to UTSA 76-65 in the final game of the Gulf Coast Showcase Wednesday inside Hertz Arena.

FGCU had three players score in double-digits led by junior Christian Carlyle with 16 points. Redshirt seniors Schadrac Casimir and Haanif Cheatham both added 14 points each as Cheatham finished with four rebounds.

Redshirt sophomore Brady Ernst, who got his third start of the year, snagged a game-high 11 rebounds.

FGCU shot 39 percent from the field – its lowest mark of the season – despite winning the paint battle 32-30. UTSA ended the contest shooting 45 percent from the floor.

Scouting FAU:
The Owls went 2-1 at the Islands of the Bahamas Showcase, losing to Georgia Southern, and defeating Towson and Incarnate Word before returning home to defeat NCAA DII Palm Beach Atlantic.

Junior forward Jailyn Ingram averaged 20 points and 7.7 rebounds in the three games, while freshman Jaylen Sebree averaged 14.3 points and 5.7 rebounds over the weekend.

At 5-1, FAU is off to its best five-game start at the Division I level.

Series History:
The series is tied at 2-2, with both programs owning victories on each others courts. Florida Atlantic captured the initial matchup in Boca Raton on Dec. 8, 2007. The Eagles returned the favor in Fort Myers the following year and peaked ahead in the series by winning at FAU in 2016. The Owls evened the brief rivalry back up by snatching a four-point win inside Alico Arena on Dec. 5, 2017.

How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be available and will air on the Conference USA website. Fans can also keep up on Twitter:
FGCU: @FGCU_MBB

FAU: @FAU_Hoops

Livestats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=232294&vislive=fguu

Livestream Link:  http://conferenceusa.com/watch/purchase.aspx#register ($6.95 for a 24-hour pass to watch) Is it really worth it?

Raining 3s vs Hawaii Recap

Wrapping up day two of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, redshirt senior Lisa Zderadicka went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final minutes on Saturday to help the FGCU women's basketball team (3-2) hold off a fourth-quarter rally from Hawaii (1-6) and secure a 73-67 win. With the win, the Eagles are now 2-0 against the Rainbow Wahine.

"I thought we had a really good first half," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "We had a really good pace to our play. Unfortunately, in the fourth quarter, we didn't do well. We played a little tentative. We slowed down our pace, and Hawaii made a nice comeback. It was good to see Kerstie get a bunch of offensive rebounds late in the game to help us and for Lisa to knock down all those free throws to help seal the game."

"We had a bad start in the first quarter, and it cost us," said Hawaii head coach Laura Beeman. "I loved our fight and our effort in the third and fourth quarters, but we put ourselves in a bad situation early on. But, the good thing is we see our weaknesses early, which means we can fix them now, rather than be surprised come March."

Junior Nasrin Ulel converted a pair of free throws with 4:05 left in the third quarter to give FGCU its second of two 22-point leads. Ulel led the team with 17 points, (6-15, 1-4 3PT, 4-4 FT), two rebounds, assists and one steal.

Then, after the Eagles didn't produce any field goals over a four-minute stretch late in the quarter, redshirt sophomore Kerstie Phills and to give the Eagles a 57-41 lead entering the final 10 minutes. Redshirt junior Keri Jewett-Giles made back-to-back layups in the final minute.

The lead remained at double digits until Hawaii's junior Makenna Woodfolk made a layup with 2:27 left to pull the Rainbow Wahine within eight. They trimmed it down to four on a pair of occasions down the stretch, but Zderadicka made a pair of free throws each time.

Zderadicka and Jewett-Giles finished with 16 points each and had a game-high three steals. In fact, they each had more individually than Hawaii (2) had as a team. Jewett-Giles also led the way with three assists. Zderadicka was 8-8 at the free throw line, which included two late free throws helped the Eagles

Redshirt senior Destiny Washington added seven points and a team-high six rebounds before fouling out late, but she eclipsed 800 points in her NCAA career with a third quarter layup. She entered needing five points for the milestone and now sits at 802, which includes stops at Ball State and Loyola Chicago.

Junior Tytionia Adderly added three rebounds to go with her four points. Adderly is nine rebounds shy of becoming the sixth player in program history with at least 600 career rebounds. She needs 11 more to eclipse Courtney Chihil (603, 2008-12) for fifth-place all-time.

FGCU is now 3-2 all-time as a Division-I program while playing in the state of Hawaii.

The Eagles finished 6-for-21 from 3-point range to snap its four-game streak of 10 or more made from long range to open the season.

Jewett-Giles has now scored 15 or more points in four consecutive games since an eight-point outing against South Dakota State in the season opener. She is averaging 16.5 PPG during that stretch.

Four 'Bows ended the game in double digits as junior guard Julissa Tago led the team with 13 points in 22 minutes of action off the bench. Woodfolk started slow but produced in the fourth quarter finishing with 10 points, eight rebounds, and three assists.

Up Next:
The Eagles wrap up day three of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown as they face American University at 5 P.M. ET before returning home to the Alico Arena to face Houston on Wednesday, November 28 at 5 P.M.

Raining 3s vs #7 Stanford Recap

The FGCU women's basketball team (2-2) stayed with No. 7 Stanford for just over one half, but the Cardinal (4-0) finished 16-for-27 from the field over the final 20 minutes as the Eagles fell 88-65 in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown opener at the Stan Sheriff Center on Friday.

"I thought we played really well for a good portion of this game and then unfortunately I thought our pace let down in the second half when they got a little bit of a lead," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "I didn't think we had the mindset or the attitude to fight to get back in it. We're just learning how to play together and hopefully we'll learn from this experience. I'm encouraged by about half of this game because we played really well against a great team. We just have to eliminate the other half."

Redshirt junior Keri Jewett-Giles poured in a team-high 17 points, while adding two rebounds, one assist and one steal, while junior Nasrin Ulel (13), redshirt senior Lisa Zderadicka (8), sophomore Alyssa Blair (7) and freshman Tanner Bryant (6) also contributed offensively. Nobody had more than three rebounds for the Eagles, who got three each from four individuals while being outrebounded 47-20.

The Green and Blue opened the game in strong fashion with back-to-back layups from Jewett-Giles and Zderadicka. Stanford answered with 12 straight, however, until Blair ended the run with a three-point play.

The Cardinal led 31-21 with 6:07 left in the half, but Zderadicka and Jewett-Giles combined for five straight before Bryantburied a corner 3-pointer to pull FGCU within four. The deficit was down to three following a 3-pointer from Jewett-Giles, but Stanford took a four-point lead into the break.

Ulel opened the third quarter with a pair of layups that pulled FGCU within one, and the Eagles had two chances moments later to take the lead but missed on a pair of 3-point field goal opportunities. Stanford took advantage, went on an 8-0 run and later closed the quarter on a 7-2 spurt to open up a 15-point lead.

"They had a couple good quick hits against us to get layups and then they found their shooters in the second half and shot a great percentage," Smesko said. "We gave up too many open looks from three. But give Stanford credit. After halftime, they did a good job getting better ball movement and getting the ball to shooters."

Ulel made a 3-pointer just 14 seconds into the fourth quarter as FGCU looked to trim the lead, but the Eagles went 0-for-4 with six turnovers over the next five plus minutes as the Cardinal pushed the lead to 23.

Redshirt freshman Tyra Cox and Bryant made back-to-back 3-pointers to end the drought, and redshirt junior Davion Wingate scored her lone points of the game on a fast break layup for the Green and Blue's final points with just under two minutes left.

Stanford's Nadia Fingall frustrated FGCU with a game-high 24 points on 11-for-14 shooting. Kiana Williams (17) and DiJonai Carrington (16) also combined for 33, while those three had 57 of their team's 88 points. On the positive side, Alanna Smith, who came in averaging 17.7 points per contest this year, was held to six points in 13 minutes on 1-for-5 shooting by FGCU's defense.

With her three rebounds, junior Tytionia Adderly is just 12 shy of becoming the sixth player in program history with at least 600 career rebounds. She needs 14 more to eclipse Courtney Chihil (603, 2008-12) for fifth-place all-time.

Bryant, who is now 8-for-15 from 3-point range, entered the game with 26 points this season, which is the most over the season's first three games for a true freshmen in the program's Division-I era. The only two players who scored more were Steffi Sorensen (49, 2006-07) and Adrianne McNally (35, 2006-07), which both occurred in the program's Division-II era.

With her two points, Destiny Washington is now just five shy of reaching 800 in her NCAA career, which has also seen stops at Loyola-Chicago and Ball State.

While FGCU fell to 0-3 all-time against Stanford with Friday's result, they are now 2-2 all-time as a Division-I program while playing in the state of Hawaii.

Smesko remains at 498 career victories and still has the chance to reach 500 this weekend.

The Green and Blue finished 10-for-38 from 3-point range, which gives the team four straight games with double-digit makes to open the season. They have now made at least that many in a game 241 times in program history and are on pace to record at least 15 such games in a season for the 11th straight campaign.

Redshirt sophomore Chandler Ryan had her streak of three consecutive games with four or more 3-point field goals made to open the season snapped. She finished 1-for-3.

Up Next:
The Green and Blue will battle Hawaii (1-5) at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday before closing out the Rainbow Wahine Showdown on Sunday at 5 p.m. against American, who defeated Hawaii 69-57 in Friday's nightcap.

Raining 3s: Raining Wahine Showdown Preview

The FGCU women's basketball team (2-1) will prepare for the sunshine, surf, palm trees, hula skirts, fire dancers and Spam musubi as they head to Honolulu, Hawaii to compete in the three-day Rainbow Wahine Showdown at the hosted by the University of Hawaii from Friday, November 23 to Sunday, November 25. For the tournament, the Eagles will be facing #7 Stanford (3-0) (Nov 23 @9:30 P.M. ET/4:30 P.M. HT), host Hawaii (1-4) (Nov 24 @7:30 P.M. ET/2:30 P.M. HT) and American University (2-1) (Nov @5 P.M. ET/12 P.M. HT).

Last Time Out:
The Eagles are coming off of a 100-58 win against FIU as part of the doubleheader with the men's basketball teams' win against South Dakota State.

Offensively, leading the fray is redshirt junior Keri Jewett-Giles and redshirt sophomore Chandler Ryan.

Jewett-Giles is currently averaging 13.7 points per game. In the game against FIU, Jewett-Giles played off the bench scoring a team-high 18 points, and as a result of her good game, the Ft. Myers native and hometown hero was named A-SUN Newcomer and Player of the Week.

"It is good to see Keri earn this recognition," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "She is a very talented player, and she performed well."

Ryan has been averaging 12.3 points and three rebounds per game and has been a factor as the 6th woman. In her last game, Ryan had 12 points (4-for-7 3PT) and three rebounds.

Speaking of rebounds, junior Tytionia Adderly is averaging 8.7 rebounds per game. In her last game against FIU, Adderly had seven rebounds with four being on the offensive end. With her four offensive rebound, the Jupiter native has 248 in her career. She passed Adrianne McNally (240, 2006-10) for second all-time and is 82 away from passing Sarah Hansen (329, 2010-14) as the all-time leader in career offensive rebounds.

Leading the way the freshman class is Tanner Bryant. Bryant is averaging 8.7 points per game. In the game against FIU, Bryant had 11 points and was 3-for-5 behind the arch.

On the defensive front, redshirt senior Destiny Washington leads the team with seven blocks while scoring five points per game. The Ball State transfer had eight points and two blocks against FIU.

500 On The Horizon:
FGCU head coach Karl Smesko entered this season with a 496-114 (.813) career head coaching record, which ranked him as the third winningest active Division-I head coach behind UConn's Geno Auriemma (1,027-136, .883) and Baylor's Kim Mulkey (539-98, .846). He enters Friday with 498 wins, which puts him just two wins shy of a major coaching milestone, his 500th win. He earned his 400th victory in just 493 games, which was two faster than UConn's Geno Auriemma.

Scouting Stanford:
The Cardinal are coming off of a 96-62 win against San Francisco. Last week, the Cardinal were ranked #7 in NCAA AP and USA Today/WBCA Coaches Top 25 Polls, but their poll in the AP dropped to #8.

Originally, the Cardinal were scheduled to face Ohio State on Sunday, November 18, but Due to the significant increase in smoke over the last 24 hours from wildfires in Butte County, official readings of the Air Quality Index (AQI) have started to reach, and occasionally exceed, the "Very Unhealthy" category. Additionally, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District has said that readings are likely to be worse in the region. The game would not be rescheduled as a result.

The Cardinal are led offensively by sophomore Kiana Williams and senior Alanna Smith.

Williams is averaging 18 points and five assists per game while shooting 64.5 percent overall and 61.1 percent (11-for-18) from 3-point range. In the game against San Francisco, the San Antonio native had 21 points (8-13 FG, 4-6 3PT) and three assists. 

Smith averages 17.7 points and six rebounds per game. In her last game, the Australian had 18 points and seven rebounds against San Francisco.

Freshman Lexie Hull is averaging 10.7 points and a team-best seven rebounds and has notched the Cardinal's only double-double of the season. Hull had four points and five rebounds against San Francisco.

The Cardinal has also received a noticeable lift from its bench, led by sophomore Maya Dodson. One of four players scoring in double figures, Dodson is averaging 10.0 points and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 60.9 percent from the field. Dodson, who has joined Smith and Williams as the only players to reach double figures in all three games, is the team's leading shot-blocker with eight swats and has totaled seven assists to just one turnover. Dodson had 10 points and four blocks against San Francisco.

Scouting Hawaii:
The Rainbow Wahine are coming off of a 67-51 win against Seattle as they hosted the Bank of Hawai'i Classicee. It was the lone win so far.

All four of the 'Bows' losses have been decided by eight points or less, meaning Hawaii did just enough to keep each game within striking distance. Their record against nationally-ranked teams is 10-93, including 40-straight losses and they haven't knocked off a ranked opponent in 20 years. The last time it happened was against No. 17 Kansas on Nov. 22, 1998 when Hawaii took down the Jayhawks 51-47.

Senior Leah Salanoa leads the team in points (12.8) and rebounds (7) per game. In the win against Seattle, Salona had 12 points and six rebounds.

Not too far Salanoa is junior Makenna Woodfolk.Woodfolk is averaging 10.8 points and four rebounds per game. In the game against Seattle, the Tacoma native finished with seven points and eight rebounds.

Scouting American:
The Eagles are coming off of a road loss to Denver (83-54). The Eagles opened the season at No. 24 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll before moving up to No. 19 the second week. This week, they're in the receiving votes section.

American's offense is led by senior Cecily Carl. Carl averages 19 points and five rebounds per game. In the game against Denver, Carl had 26 points and seven rebounds.

Three other players join Carl in double digit points per game: junior Kaitlyn Marenyi (14) and seniors Elina Koskimies (12.7) and Kaitlyn Lewis (11).

Marenyi, who is also averaging 4.7 rebounds per game, had eight points and three rebounds, Koskimies, who averages 3.3 rebounds, had 12 points and three rebounds and averaging four rebounds, Lewis had five points and five rebounds.

Series History:
Overall, the Eagles are 0-2 against Stanford. The Eagles fell 83-59 to Stanford the first time on Nov. 27, 2013 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on Nov. 27, 2013, which was head coach Tara Vanderveer's 900th career win. The Cardinal defeated FGCU 90-70 at the Stanford Regional in the second round of the NCAA National Tournament last season.

I should know because I was a witness of the game and went there live, in which they had two advantages against us: 1. Home field (@ Stanford) and height (6-1 average height).

The game between the Eagles and the Rainbow Wahine will be the second time they face each other. The Eagles defeated the 72-52 on  Dec. 29, 2011 in the same invitational.

For the game against American, it will be the first-ever meeting for FGCU.

How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be provided for all three games.

For the game against Stanford, it will be live on audio on the Stanford athletics page.

For the game against Hawaii, it will air livestream on the Big West athletics page and is free to watch.

The game against American will have neither.

Fans can also keep up on Twitter:
FGCU: @FGCU_WBB
Stanford: @StanfordWBB
Hawaii: @WahineBBall

American: @AU_WBasketball

Livestat links:

vs Stanford: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=236750

vs Hawaii: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=236753

vs. American: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=236754

Audio link vs Stanford: https://gostanford.com/watch/?Live=1174&type=Live

Livestream link vs Hawaii: http://bigwest.sidearmstreaming.com/watch/?Live=1563

Dunk City vs UTSA Recap

Despite having a 36-34 lead at the break, the FGCU men's basketball team (2-5) could not contain the UTSA (1-5) offense who shot nearly 55 percent in the second half as the Eagles fell to the Roadrunners, 76-65, in the final game of the Gulf Coast Showcase, Wednesday afternoon at Hertz Arena.

FGCU had three players score in double-digits led by junior Christian Carlyle with 16 points. Redshirt seniors Schadrac Casimir and Haanif Cheatham both added 14 points each as Cheatham finished with four rebounds.

Redshirt junior Brady Ernst, who got his third start of the year, snagged a game-high 11 rebounds.

UTSA was led Jhivvan Jackson with 21 points off the bench while Keaton Wallace added 19 points and Nick Allen chipping in 13 points.

"I thought we did a good job coming out with energy in the first half," said head coach Michael Fly. "I thought we were playing the way we were capable of. They went on a little bit of a run and I feel like we didn't hit back very well. We came back out in the second half, they went on a run and we didn't respond. We're going to get back to the building blocks when we start practice on Friday and get this thing right."

The lead was no bigger than three points for either side through the first eight minutes until Cheatham connected on a three-point play after getting fouled, making it a 13-7 contest. Under the 10-minute mark, Casimir's mid-range jumper gave FGCU's its biggest lead, 21-13. Just as it looked like the Eagles were pulling away, Jackson's back-to-back treys for UTSA pulled them to within one as Wallace tied the game at 22-22 with a bucket and a free throw.

The match would be tied four more times in the final eight minutes as a layup from Casimir gave FGCU a 36-34 lead going into the break. FGCU shot 41 percent during the first 20 minutes while holding the Roadrunners to just 35 percent.

In the second half, UTSA came out of the gates going a on 12-5 run spearheaded by back-to-back three-pointers from Wallace before a pair of free throws (14:28 mark) from redshirt senior Ricky Doyle cut the Roadrunner's margin to 46-41. From there, the Eagles would get to as close as seven points (51-44, 13:26) as UTSA built a lead as large as 17 with 2:27 left en route to the 76-65 final.

All said FGCU shot 39 percent from the field – lowest mark of the season – despite winning the paint battle 32-30. UTSA ended the contest shooting 45 percent from the floor.

Up Next:
FGCU will look to get rid of a three-game losing streak when the Eagles travel across Alligator Alley this weekend to face cross-town foe FAU (4-1) Sunday at 3 pm.

Dunk City vs Colorado State Recap

The FGCU men's basketball team (2-4) suffered its second-straight loss in the Gulf Coast Showcase as the Eagles fell to Colorado State (4-1), 82-74, Tuesday afternoon at Hertz Arena.

Redshirt senior Haanif Cheatham led all Eagles in scoring with 18 points and six rebounds as fellow redshirt senior Schadrac Casimir scored 12 points, going 3-of-10 from beyond the arc. Junior Christian Carlyle chipped in 10 points with redshirt transfer Dinero Mercurius adding seven points along with three steals playing all 40 minutes.

On the Colorado State side, Bonner Masinton and Kendle Moore each dropped a game-high 17 points as the duo combined to go 13-of-18 from the field. Adam Thistlewood chipped in 12 points off the bench for the Rams.

"Credit Colorado State, I thought for most of the game they played harder and better than us," said head coach Michael Fly. "I thought we turned it on at the end which unfortunately has been a theme for us the last week or so. We aren't getting to a point where defense and rebounding are important to us until we get down. Then we start to defend and rebound, so then we get back in the game. I just told those guys, right now I got to get them to buy in to defending and rebounding and when we do that, which we will, then we'll get good."

Casimir gave FGCU the lead on two occasions during the first half, all coming from beyond the arc. The first one came at the 18:44 mark and the second one being with 17:22 on the clock (8-7). Freshman Zach Scott started to heat up from behind the three-point line nailing back-to-back treys to inch FGCU within one possession at the 9:35 mark before a 7-0 run gave CSU a 26-18 lead going into the under eight media timeout. From there, redshirt sophomore Brady Ernst's layup sparked an 8-0 run for the Eagles as he scored six of those points with his dunk tying the affair at 26-26 with just over five minutes remaining in the first period.

Carlyle's jumper with 2:26 left gave FGCU its first lead since the first three minutes of the half but the Rams would close out the period going on an 8-0 spurt, fueled by three FGCU turnovers to lead 40-32.

FGCU shot 47 percent (13-of-28) from the field in the first half while CSU shot at a 57-percent clip (17-of-30).

Redshirt sophomore Troy Baxter Jr. provided FGCU some much-needed energy off the bench as six of his final eight points came inside the first nine minutes of the second half. Down as much as 19 (65-46) with 8:52 left, the Eagles began to chip away at the Ram's lead. Over the next two minutes, Cheatham sank seven of his 18 points to bring the Green and Blue within 11 (67-56). Continuing to attack the rim, the Fort Lauderdale native made it a 71-66 after a layup and a free throw fell through with 3:31 remaining. On the next possession, Mercurius converted a steal into a pair of points at the foul line to cut CSU's margin to 71-68.

From there the Eagles would get within four points twice, before the Rams closed out the contest on an 11-6 run, going 4-of-4 at the free throw line.

In the losing effort, FGCU shot 46 percent from the field as Colorado State connected on nearly 60 percent of its shots.

UP NEXT
FGCU will face UTSA (0-5) in its final game of the Gulf Coast Showcase. Tipoff is scheduled for 11 am.

Dunk City: Gulf Coast Showcase Preview

The FGCU men's basketball team (2-2) will be featured as the nightcap Monday when the Eagles open up their first game of the Gulf Coast Showcase taking on Toledo (2-1) at Hertz Arena.

With an Eagles' win, they will play Tuesday night at 7:30 pm against the winner of the Colorado State/Louisiana matchup. A loss will have the Eagles playing the loser of Colorado State/Louisiana game Tuesday at 1:30 pm. With another victory on Tuesday, FGCU would play in the championship game Wednesday at 7:30 pm.

Last Time Out:
The Eagles handed South Dakota State – who came in ranked #3 in the Collegeinsider.com Mid Major Top 25 Poll – its first loss of the season Friday night. Down seven at the break (37-30), FGCU used a 54-point second half performance to come out on top, 84-78. Tied at 66-66 with a little under four minutes remaining in regulation, redshirt senior Dinero Mercurius drained a three-pointer to break the tie before the Jackrabbits knotted the affair once again with under 2:30 left on the clock.

The momentum shifted into FGCU's favor in a six-second stretch with under 1:30 to go as redshirt senior Schadrac Casimir scored on a drive to the bucket as he would intercept the following inbound pass for an easy layup to give the Eagles a 76-74 lead. SDSU would get within one (79-78) with 19 seconds left but five points from Mercurius – three from the free throw line – in the closing seconds would seal the deal for the Eagles as he capped off his night with 14 points.

This will mark the second appearance in the Showcase tournament for FGCU, the first one coming back in 2014. In that year, the Green and Blue collected wins over Marist (58-43) and San Francisco (62-47) before falling in the championship game to Green Bay (59-49).

Since its inaugural in 2013 – which caters to Mid-Major programs – this year's tournament looks to be one of the most competitive fields in the past six years. Including FGCU, eight teams will be competing Monday through Wednesday. Out of the eight teams, four are currently ranked in the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll – #3 SDSU, #12 Louisiana, #13 Toledo, and #23 UC Irvine.

On one side of the bracket, you have SDSU (3-1), Tulane (1-1), UC Irvine (4-0), and UTSA (0-3) while the other draw features FGCU, Toledo, Louisiana (1-2) and Colorado State (3-0).

Scouting Toledo:
The Rockets are ranked #13 in the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, Toledo comes into Southwest Florida with an overall 2-1 record, led by head coach Tod Kowalczyk who's in his 9th season with the program. Over the last five seasons, he's guided the Rockets to a trio of 20-win campaigns. Toledo ended last year with a 23-11 record, going 13-5 in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) as they claimed the MAC West Division crown.

Forward Willie Jackson is close to averaging a double-double through three games as the 6-6 junior is dropping 13.3 points per game while grabbing nine rebounds a contest and 1.3 assists per game. Behind him, junior Luke Knapke is averaging 12.3 points, pairing that with 6.3 boards per contest while senior Nate Navigato is third on the team in scoring with 12 points per game. The Rockets are shooting 49 percent from the field and 39 percent from beyond the arc.

Toledo's first two wins of the season came against Oakland (87-86) and Wilberforce (Ohio) (99-58). Their first loss came last Wednesday at the hands of Wright State (84-74).   

Series History:
This will be the fourth all-time meeting between the Eagles and the Rockets Monday night as FGCU leads series 2-1. Both teams faced off against each other in three-straight years from 2010-12. After dropping the first meeting, 73-65 on the road, the Eagles won the following two contests in Alico Arena (83-80, 2011 and 72-66, 2012).

How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be available and will air on the Gulf Coast Showcase livestream. The livestream will cost $24 to watch.

Fans can also keep up on Twitter:
FGCU: @FGCU_MBB

Livestats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=240958

Livestream Link:  https://bdglobal.inplayer.com/gulf-coast-men/item.html?id=40393

FGCU VB: A-SUN Conference Tournament Day Three Recap

The moment came down to two teams in the A-SUN Conference Volleyball Championship finals, #1 FGCU and #2 Kennesaw State. What's at stake? The winner punches their ticket to the 2018 NCAA National Volleyball Tournament to represent the A-SUN.

Having already won the A-SUN Conference Regular Season Championship, FGCU is going for their first ever NCAA National Tournament appearance, while for Kennesaw, who is defending the A-SUN Conference Tournament Championship, are going for their second straight NCAA National Tournament appearance.

If FGCU wins, they go to the national tournament. If Kennesaw wins, they go to the national tournament while the Eagles choose the option to play in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC).

In the end, a winner was crowned, and in a nail biter of a match, it was FGCU (26-6) that finally got their moment as they defeated Kennesaw State (24-7) 3-2 (25-20, 27-25, 22-25, 17-25, 15-12). With the win, the Eagles are not only 15-11 against the Owls and extended their winning streak to 15 straight matches which tied their 2012 and 2016 seasons, but they are now the A-SUN Conference Tournament Champions and have punched their ticket to the 2018 NCAA National Volleyball Tournament for the first time in program history.

"This is a special night for our program and players," FGCU head coach and A-SUN Coach of the Year Matt Botsford said. "A lot of hard work has gone into this, and there is nothing more rewarding as a coach than seeing your team getting to celebrate a moment like that."

"Congrats to FGCU and Matt (Botsford), they earned the title this year and I'm happy for him and their program, but I have nothing but pride tonight in this team and our program," said head coach Keith Schunzel. "Our players played as hard as we could have possibly played and left their hearts on the court, but we came up just a little bit short. Coming back from 0-2 tonight against that team, after last night's five-set win, was a nearly impossible feat that we were only one or two plays away from pulling off."

The Eagles managed to fight through the first two sets with the second being the toughest, but the Owl buckled the Eagles, forcing them to drop their third and fourth sets and send it to a fifth set.

After the Eagles led the fifth set 8-4 before switching side, the Owls managed to rally to tie the score to 11-11, but soon a costly service error from sophomore A-SUN All-Conference First Team member Lauren Chastang extended the Eagles lead to 14-12 before a costly attack error from A-SUN All-Freshman Team member Dani Ballou saved the Eagles' wings as they sealed the deal for the match and championship point.

"We had to make a pretty big change going into that fifth set," Botsford said. "We didn't put any kind of service pressure on them in that fourth game. Our offense was passive. We knew the difference was going to be if we could still be aggressive in that fifth set when everything is on the line, and I thought our girls did an excellent job at that."

Offensively, the reins were taken over by the trio of junior A-SUN All-Conference Second Team member Dani Serrano and sophomores Snowy Burnam and A-SUN All-Conference First Team member, A-SUN All-Academic Team member and A-SUN Player of the Year Cortney VanLiew.

Serrano finished with 13 kills and five blocks (two solo). With her 13 kills, Serrano became the 14th player to reach 600 career kills as she has 612 in her career. Defensively with her two solo blocks, Serrano now has 55 in her career and is nine away from passing Olivia Mesner (62, 2011-14) as the all-time leader. With her three blocks assists, Serrano extends her amount to 304 and with her five total blocks, the amount was extended to 358 in her career.

"(Dani) has been huge for us," Botsford said. "She's been starting since she was a freshman. She's a rock, one of the most competitive kids you'll ever know. You just can't see it as much because (her emotions are) not as outward as some of our other players, but there's this inner drive for her. You can trust her in these big moments. She just did fantastic for us."

"All I can use is the word excited," Serrano said. "I think it's fitting - excited. That's all I can think of right now. I'm so proud of my team. It was such a roller coaster of emotion. There were times when I was just so frustrated. Obviously, giving up wasn't an option, but coach just told us not to get down on ourselves. I know what it's like when we work together, and I just couldn't let that slip. I was trying to keep everyone together. It was hard, but I think it showed in the fifth set that we really came together and showed out."

VanLiew and Burnam finished with a double-double each (VanLiew: 13 kills and 12 digs, Burnam 12 kill and 16 digs). VanLiew also added a career-high four aces and a block while Burnam added an ace, an assist and two blocks. VanLiew's 13 kills put her at 753 in her career while Burnam's 12 put her at 424 in her career. VanLiew's 12 digs make her the 18th Eagle to reach 500 career digs as she now has 513.

Junior Giogio Borgiotti finished with five kills, a dig and three blocks. With her five kills, the Vienna, Virginia native now has 486 career kills and is 14 away from becoming the 16th player to reach 500 career kills.

Assist wise, senior A-SUN All-Conference Second Team member, A-SUN All-Academic Team member and A-SUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year Maggie Rick and A-SUN All-Freshman Team member Chelsea Lockey handled it with ease. Rick would finish with 34 assists, while Lockey finished with 18 with both finishing with four digs each. Rick also added a kill. With her 34 assists,  Rick now has 4,500 career assists. In addition to her four digs, Rick now has 807 digs in her career.

Defensively, it was once again A-SUN All-Freshman Team and All-Conference First Team member Dana Axner and the Block Party (VanLiew, seniors A-SUN All-Conference First Team member Sharonda Pickering and Kaiti Krivdo, Serrano, Borgiotti, Burnam and A-SUN All-Freshman Team member Tori Morris) kept the defense in line. Of course the Block Party would do that because they ranked in the top 5 in the nation in opponents hitting percentage (Hello!!!).

Axner finished with 27 digs, an ace, and three assists, which included a huge assist that helped Rick get the kill in the fourth set. With her 27 digs, The A-SUN Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year passed Vanessa Benke (558, 2014-15) for second all-time in most digs in a single season. Axner now has 578 and is now 29 away from passing Whitney Hendry's 2005 season dig record (606) and holding the all-time single season digs record. In fact, Axner has became the program's single-season digs record holder in the Division-I era this season. In addition, Axner's digs put her 15th all-time in her career and is 27 digs away from passing Christine Pinder (603, 2012-13) for 14th all-time. I'll be honest, I was a little doubtful that Axner would accomplish this season digs record, but from what I've seen, she does have a very solid chance to do so.

Meanwhile, the Block Party had a combined 56 kills and 23 total blocks (six solo) with Morris leading the way with six blocks (one solo). Morris also added four kills and a dig while Pickering (five blocks, one solo) added nine kills.

Along with Krivdo's one block, sophomore Alayna Ryan and senior Karissa Rhoades also contributed in the match. Ryan contributed with a dig while Rhoades contributed with three digs. Rhoades now has 874 and is 11 away from passing Heather Van Olst (884, 2004-06) for eighth all-time.

Along with that, Botsford earned his 115th win as head coach for the Eagles, long time assistant coach Daniel Mahy earned his 263rd win with FGCU and his 292nd overall and first-time FGCU assistant coach Stephanie Zelinski earned her 54rd career win. In fact for coach Mahy, the first round match of the national tournament will be his ninth appearance. The previous eight appearances were when FGCU was an NCAA DII independent.

For the Owls, senior Sydni Shelton led the way offensively as she finished her final match with 18 kills and three blocks.

Fellow senior and A-SUN All-Conference Second Team and All-Academic Team member Liesl Engelbrecht finished her final match with 13 kills and five blocks.

Sophomore A-SUN All-Conference First Team members Lauren Chastang and junior A-SUN Setter of the Year Lexi Broadwater each finished with a double-double. Chastang finished with 11 kills and 16 digs while adding two aces and two blocks while Broadwater had 54 assists and 12 digs while adding four kills, two aces and five blocks.

Ballou and sophomore Quin Sutphin finished with eight kills each. Ballou also added three digs and a block while Sutphin added five blocks and a dig. Sophomore Karlee Grover finished with 29 digs, three assists and one ace while freshman Bri Becerra finished with a kill and 11 digs. Freshman Jessie Cohen and senior Karla Radillo also contributed for the Owls. Cohen contributed with an ace and two digs while Radillo added an assist and three digs.

The A-SUN All-Tournament Team was announced afterwards:

Representing Kennesaw was Shelton, Engelbrecht and Broadwater.

Representing FGCU was Axner, VanLiew and Serrano. Serrano was also named the A-SUN All-Tournament Team MVP. In fact, Serrano is the first middle blocker to win A-SUN Championship MVP since Katie Rose (Lipscomb) did so in 2011.

Senior A-SUN All-Conference First Team member Carlyle Nusbaum was also named on the all-tournament team, but was not in attendance due to being eliminated by Kennesaw in the semifinals.

In the end for Kennesaw, the four seniors, Shelton, Engelbrecht, Radillo and Maddie Jones, and their season has come to an end.

"The four seniors finished their careers tonight by playing an incredible match and I'm so sad for them, but so happy for them too, said Schunzel on his seniors. "They finish as the winningest class in program history and changed not only this program, but my family and this athletic department. We will be forever indebted to all that they've given all of us."

The Eagles are now one of 15 teams to punch their ticket to the national tournament as they join the following teams. 10 of the teams listed do not have a conference tournament as it is based on their regular season:
#1 Brigham Young (WCC)*
#2 Stanford (PAC-12)*
#3 Minnesota (Big Ten)*
#5 Texas (Big 12)*
#10 Pittsburgh (ACC)*
#11 Kentucky (SEC)*
#21 UCF (AAC)*
Yale (Ivy)*
Cal Poly (Big West)*
Colorado State (MW)*
Iona (MAAC)
Stony Brook (AEC)
Bryant (NEC)
Murray State (OVC)

Iona, Stony Brook, Bryant and Murray State played on the same day as FGCU. 17 conference tournaments remain to be played along with the choosing of at-large bids. With that being said, the Eagles are going to the national tournament for the first time in program history and I'm super happy that they got this opportunity of a lifetime to go.

I would love to travel with the team and see them play in the national tournament. In fact, it would be my second ever time I get to go to the national tournament since March 2018 when I went with the FGCU women's basketball team in Stanford. Boy that would be an adventure of a lifetime for me.

Up Next:
The question now is who will we face and what region will we be in? Well here's the answer: we don't know. We could face anybody ranging from California Poly of the Big West and face them in the BYU Regional hosted by #1 BYU or we could play #3 Minnesota and play them in the Minnesota Regional. The amount of tension and stress can vary, so it's anybody's guess and will be answered on the NCAA Tournament Selection Show.

NCAA Tournament Selection Show and Info:
The NCAA Division-I women's volleyball championship bracket will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 8:30 p.m. on ESPNU. The first and second rounds will be held at 16 non-predetermined campus sites Nov. 29 - Dec. 1. At each campus site, four teams will compete in a single-elimination format. The winner advances to regionals Dec. 7-8. The final four teams will compete Dec. 13 and 15 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.


Below is a photo of the team holding the conference banner and I even did a special message for them on Twitter via Periscope.

Link: https://www.pscp.tv/w/1zqKVOvMawYGB

The Team holding the A-SUN banner. Photo Credit: Lib Jordan