FGCU VB @ Stetson Recap

Wrapping up their final road match of the season and in conference, the FGCU volleyball team (23-6, 14-1 A-SUN) struggled in one set before pulling themselves together in record-breaking time as they defeated Stetson (16-11, 8-7 A-SUN) 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-18).

With the win, the Eagles not only remain in first place going into their final home match of the season and are now 21-2 against the Lady Hatters, but they have also clinched a share of the A-SUN Regular Season Championship. In addition, the Eagles enter with a 12-match winning streak, tying their fourth highest winning streak in program history (2008).

"What I'm most happy about as I think about the way things unfolded is our response as a group in that second set," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "Nothing was working, and we were on the verge of falling into an 0-2 hole, but we kept fighting. There were some big plays made at some big moments to give us a chance."

"Against a good team like this we have to perform consistently and the margin of error is very small," Stetson head coach Yang Deng said. "So if you make a mistake here or there, it's going to go in the other team's favor. Overall, they are a little more experienced in how they play together. I think we did well. I'm proud of how we fought."

Going into the first set, the Eagles began with a 6-3 lead until the Lady Hatters pulled away with four straight points to give them the lead. The Lady Hatters led by as much as four points, but the Eagles kept reducing the lead until a kill from senior Julia Varga gave Stetson the first set.

In the second set, things were going a little more smoother for the Eagles despite the Lady Hatters cutting the deficit to one point and even tying in the set. Eventually, the Lady Hatters took the 15-13 over the Eagles and went as high as four points yet again, but the Eagles clawed their way to tie the set to 21-21 before sealing the deal and taking the second set.

In the third set, the Eagles manage to pull away with a five-point run at one point before Stetson tried to stop the Eagles with a three-point run of their own, however it did not faze the Eagles when they pulled away with third set.

In the fourth and final set, the Eagles were able to put it on cruise control and pull away for the set and match point.

Offensively, it was the sophomore duo of Cortney VanLiew and Snowy Burnam that took the reins. Both finished with a double-double of 19 kills each (VanLiew: 10 digs, Burnam: 13 digs). VanLiew also added an ace and two blocks.

In addition to her 19 kills, VanLiew became the ninth Eagles to reach 700 kills while she passed Heather Van Olst (700, 2004-06) for eighth all-time and now has 717 career kills. The Seymour native need nine more to pass Jill Hopper (725, 2011-13) for seventh all-time.

For Burnam, she recorded a new career-high in kills while hitting .429. She has three consecutive double-doubles, along with five straight matches with double-digit digs. All five of her double-doubles this year have come over the past nine matches.

Senior Maggie Rick made program history for the Eagles. The Alpharetta native finished with a double-double of 48 assists and 10 digs. With her 48 assists, Rick became the all-time leader in career assists as she passed Gigi Meyer (4,408 2011-14) and now has 4,430 career assists, and with her 10 digs, Rick has 799 in her career and is one away from being the 10th player to reach 800 career digs.

Rick also tied Courtney Stephens (2014-17), Meyer (2011-14) and Whitney Masters (2011-14) for the program's matches played mark with 126. She is slated to break the record on Saturday.

In addition, the senior also surpassed Kennesaw State's Sara Metroka (4,427, 2010-13) for fifth-place on the A-SUN all-time list.

1. Colleen Nilson (Belmont, 2004-07) – 5,636
2. April DeCoste (Georgia State, 2001-04) – 5,391
3. Stefine "Jake" Pease (Lipscomb, 2007-10) – 5,159
4. Kendall Courtney (Jacksonville, 2010-13) – 4,851
5. Maggie Rick (FGCU, 2015-present) – 4,430
6. Sara Metroka (Kennesaw State, 2010-13) – 4,427
7. Gigi Meyer (FGCU, 2011-14) – 4,408
8. Jenny Frank (UCF, 2001-03) – 4,102
9. Kristi Piedimonte (Kennesaw State, 2014-17) – 4,005
10. Kayla Weller (Stetson, 2012-15) – 3,789

"Maggie had another great night and what a memorable match for her to break the record," Botsford said. "Winning a regular season championship and becoming the all-time assist leader is pretty fitting."

Junior Dani Serrano also finished strong offensively as she finished with 16 kills and four blocks. Serrano's 16 kills put her at 584 in her career.

Defensively, Serrano now has 287 total block assists and counting. In addition, the Sanford native's lone solo block puts her at 50 and is now two away from passing Ericka Fonseca (51, 2005-06) for second all-time. In addition, Serrano's four total blocks put her at 337 in her career and is now six shy of passing Mesner (342) as the all-time leader in total blocks.

Freshman Chelsea Lockey finished with 15 assists and five digs.

Senior Sharonda Pickering would finish with nine kills, a solo block and three digs, freshman Tori Morris finished with four kills and junior Giogio Borgiotti finished with three kills, two digs and a block.

Defensively overall, it was freshman Dana Axner that took the reins mainly. Axner finished with 27 digs, three assists and an ace. With her 27 digs, Axner became the 17th Eagle to reach 500 digs and now has a ream and conference-leading 514 career digs.

In addition to her 500 dig milestone, the native of Dublin, Ohio sits fourth all-time as she passed Whitney Hendry's 2004 and 2006 season records (488 in 2006: sixth all-time, 502 in 2004: fifth all-time) and Masters' 2013 record (512: fourth all-time) for most digs in a single season. She is now six shy of passing Masters' 2014 record for third all-time (519).

With her three assists on Tuesday, Axner now has 101 this year, which gives FGCU a trio of players with 100 or more assists for only the second time in program history. Along with Rick (745) and Lockey (394), the trio joins the 2012 group of Meyer (683), Courtney Greenberg (510) and Masters (121).

The Block Party (Serrano, VanLiew, Pickering and Borgiotti) were held to only eight blocks in the match with Serrano leading the way.

Senior Karissa Rhoades also contributed in the match with two digs and now has 868 in her career.

Along with the win, assistant coach Daniel Mahy earned his 262nd career win with FGCU and his 290th overall, while fellow assistant coach Stephanie Zielinski earned her 52nd career win as an NCAA assistant coach.

For the Lady Hatters, it was Varga and sophomore Riley Nieporte that led the way offensively. Both Varga and Nieporte finished with 13 kills each. Varga would add an assist, an ace, a block and seven digs while Nieporte added two digs.

Junior Eva Deisa finished with a double-double of 12 kills and 15 assists.

Senior Hao Jin had nine kills, an ace and four blocks with three being solo.

Junior Emily DeStaffino finished with a game-high 45 assists to go with her eight digs, two kills and two blocks.

Defensively, along with Jin's four blocks, sophomore Chelsea Spence had 22 digs, three assists and a kill.

In other A-SUN matchups, Kennesaw State (22-6, 13-2 A-SUN) defeated Lipscomb (16-11, 11-3 A-SUN) 3-1 and North Alabama (4-20, 2-13 A-SUN) earned their second conference win as they defeated NJIT (4-27, 2-13 A-SUN) 3-1.

Updated Standings:
1. FGCU (23-6, 14-1)
2. Kennesaw (22-6, 13-2)
3. Lipscomb (16-11, 11-4)
4. Liberty (13-15, 9-5)
5. Stetson (16-11, 8-7)
6. UNF (9-21, 4-10)
7. Jacksonville (5-22, 3-11)
8. North Alabama (4-20, 2-13)
9. NIT (4-27, 2-13)

Up Next:

The Eagles wrap up their regular season at home as they return to the Alico Arena to face Liberty on Saturday, November 10 at 7 P.M. It will be senior night for four seniors: Karissa Rhoades, Maggie Rick, Kaiti Krivdo, and Sharonda Pickering.