As a result of the win, not only did FGCU split the series with Kennesaw, but they are now in sole possession of first place for the first time since the 2012 season.
"They played great tonight, frankly the last few weeks since we played them down there, they've been the hottest team in the league," said head coach Keith Schunzel. "They made some lineup changes and they got it going. They are big on the block, they served and passed it great today. They played a really good game."
Prior to the match, Kennesaw celebrated their Senior Day as Sydni Shelton, Liesl Engelbrecht, Maddie Jones, and Karla Radillo.
"What these four have done for our program, I don't think a lot of people realize, they are the winningest class we've ever had," said Schunzel on his four seniors. "We've won two regular season titles with them, a bunch of all-conference awards. And what really tops it off is that they are four of the best people you'll ever meet in your life. They are just incredible young women, they care about their teammates, they care about people, and they love being at Kennesaw State and competing for this team.I'm really proud of all four of them."
On the first set, the Eagles were able to lead by as high as six points, but after a Kennesaw 5-0 run with a 23-20 lead, they buckled on the final five points, giving Kennesaw possession of the first set.
After being down 10-7 in the second set, the Eagles pulled away with seven straight points before Kennesaw hit two straight of their own. After going back and forth between points, the Eagles managed to pull away for the second set.
Going into the near end of the third set, both teams pushed each other and after five set point attempts, the Eagles managed to secure the third set on a block.
In the final set, both teams continued with back and forth ties and lead changes until the final three points occurred on an Eagles block and two straight Owl attack errors cost Kennesaw the chance to send the match to five sets and gave the Eagles the set and the match.
Offensively, the Eagles had three players with double-digit kills and two with double-doubles. It was sophomore Cortney VanLiew led a majority of the offensive front. VanLiew led the Eagles with 18 kills, five digs and two blocks. With her 18 kills, VanLiew now has 698 career kills as she passed Eleonora Kazarian (693, 2014-15) for 9th all-time and is two away from becoming the ninth Eagle to reach 700 career kills. In addition, the Seymour native needs three to pass Heather Van Olst (700, 2004-06) for eighth all-time and 28 to pass Jill Hopper (725, 2011-13) for seventh all-time.
Fellow sophomore Snowy Burnam and senior Maggie finished with a double-double each.
Burnam would finish with 13 kills and 11 digs to go with her two blocks. This was her fourth double-double of the season and her eighth in her career.
Rick finished with 33 assists and 12 digs to go with her one kill, one ace and two blocks. With her 33 assists, Rick now has 4,382 career assists and is 26 shy of breaking Gigi Meyer's program record (4,408, 2011-14).
Junior Dani Serrano also finished with 13 kills and added an assist and eight blocks with one being a solo. With her 13 kills, Serrano now has 568 career kills.
Blocking wise, Serrano became the all-time leader in block assists as she passed Olivia Mesner (280, 2011-14) with 284 and counting. With her one solo block, Serrano has 49 in her career and is three away from passing Ericka Fonseca (51, 2005-06) for second all-time. In addition, the Sanford native's total blocks puts her at 333 in her career and is 10 away from passing Mesner (342) as the all-time leader in blocks.
Freshman Chelsea Lockey finished with 17 assists, four digs and one block. Lockey now has 379 this season and is 21 away from reaching 400.
Defensively, freshman Dana Axner and the Block Party led the way on the defensive front.
Axner would finish with 26 digs and three assists. With her 26 digs, Axner now has 487 and is seventh all-time for most digs in a single season as she passed Brooke Youngquist-Sweat's 2006 record (464, 8th all-time) and Holly Youngquist's 2011 record (466, 7th all-time). Axner is two digs away from passing Whitney Masters' 2006 record (488, 6th all-time) and 16 from possibly passing Masters' 2004 record (502, 5th all-time).
In addition, the Dublin, Ohio native is 13 digs away from becoming the 17th player to reach 500 digs.
Meanwhile the the Block Party (Burnam, VanLiew, Serrano, seniors Sharonda Pickering and Kaiti Krivdo, junior Giogio Borgiotti, and freshman Tori Morris) had a combined 23 total blocks and 56 kills.
Pickering joined Serrano with a solo block as she had six blocks to go with her three kills, Krivdo finished third on the squad with three blocks to go with her one kill, Morris had two kills and a block, Borgiotti had six kills with her one block.
"That was an exciting match with a lot of back-and-forth between two very good teams," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "I thought our players did a great job staying calm in end-game situations, and our blocking was very timely in those moments. Kaiti was a huge boost off the bench in the third set, and we had big contributions from Gio, who I thought played fantastic."
"That was an exciting match with a lot of back-and-forth between two very good teams," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "I thought our players did a great job staying calm in end-game situations, and our blocking was very timely in those moments. Kaiti was a huge boost off the bench in the third set, and we had big contributions from Gio, who I thought played fantastic."
Senior Karissa Rhoades also contributed with a dig, her 866th in her career.
In addition to the Eagles' win, long-time assistant coach Daniel Mahy earned his 261st win with FGCU and his 289th overall.
In addition to the Eagles' win, long-time assistant coach Daniel Mahy earned his 261st win with FGCU and his 289th overall.
For the Owls, sophomore Lauren Chastang finished with a double-double of 16 kills and 10 digs along with two blocks and an ace, although she was held to a .085 hitting percentage from her 12 attack errors.
Fellow sophomore Quin Sutphin finished with 13 kills and two blocks.
Shelton and Engelbrecht had nine kills each with Engelbrecht finishing with four blocks.
Junior Lexi Broadwater would finish with a 55 assists and eight kills.
Defensively, sophomore Karlee Grover finished with 26 digs.
The Eagles were ousted by the Owls in all but two team comparison stats. The Eagles had more blocks (14-6) than Kennesaw and tied them in total digs (60 each) while outhitting the Owls in hitting percentage (FGCU .317, Kennesaw .221).
In other matches in the A-SUN, Stetson (16-10, 8-6 A-SUN) shutout NJIT (4-26, 2-12 A-SUN) 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-23), Lipscomb (16-10, 11-3 A-SUN) defeated Liberty (13-14, 9-4 A-SUN) 3-1 (25-15, 23-25, 25-21, 25-19), and North Alabama (3-20, 1-13 A-SUN) secured their first win in the A-SUN as they shutout Jacksonville (5-22, 3-11 A-SUN) 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-23).
Updated Standings:
1. FGCU (22-6,13-1 A-SUN)
2. Kennesaw State (21-6, 12-2 A-SUN)
3. Lipscomb (16-10, 11-3 A-SUN)
4. Liberty (13-14, 9-4 A-SUN)
5. Stetson (16-10, 8-6 A-SUN)
6. UNF (9-21, 4-10 A-SUN)
7. Jacksonville (5-22, 3-11 A-SUN)
8. NJIT (4-26, 2-12 A-SUN)
9. North Alabama (3-20, 1-13 A-SUN)
Up Next:
The Eagles face Stetson on Tuesday night, November 6 at 6 P.M at the J. Ollie Edmunds Center in Deland, Florida for their final road match of the season before returning to the Alico Arena against Liberty on Saturday, November 10 at 7 P.M.
Updated Standings:
1. FGCU (22-6,13-1 A-SUN)
2. Kennesaw State (21-6, 12-2 A-SUN)
3. Lipscomb (16-10, 11-3 A-SUN)
4. Liberty (13-14, 9-4 A-SUN)
5. Stetson (16-10, 8-6 A-SUN)
6. UNF (9-21, 4-10 A-SUN)
7. Jacksonville (5-22, 3-11 A-SUN)
8. NJIT (4-26, 2-12 A-SUN)
9. North Alabama (3-20, 1-13 A-SUN)
Up Next:
The Eagles face Stetson on Tuesday night, November 6 at 6 P.M at the J. Ollie Edmunds Center in Deland, Florida for their final road match of the season before returning to the Alico Arena against Liberty on Saturday, November 10 at 7 P.M.
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