FGCU VB: A-SUN Conference Tournament Day One Recap

While #1 FGCU (24-6) and #2 Kennesaw (23-6) await for Friday, November 16 at the KSU Convocation Center for the A-SUN Conference Volleyball Tournament, four teams battled to face them as #4 Liberty faced #5 Stetson while #3 Lipscomb faced #6 UNF.

Both FGCU and Kennesaw have a first-round bye since they are the top two seeds in the tournament.

In the opening match of the quarterfinals, Liberty (15-16) shutout Stetson 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-20). With the win, the Lady Flames will face FGCU in the semifinals and the Lady Hatters end their season 16-13 overall.

Offensively for the Lady Flames, junior A-SUN All-Conference First Team member Casey Goodwin led the way with 15 kills, five blocks and five digs.

Senior Victoria Baptista finished behind Goodwin with a double-double of 11 kills and 14 digs. The Brazilian also added an assist and a block.

Junior A-SUN All-Conference Second Team member Kainah Williams finished with nine kills and seven blocks.

Junior A-SUN All-Conference Second Team member Anna Gragg and A-SUN All-Freshman Team member Lilly Kruse finished with six kills each. Gragg added three aces and a dig while Kruse added three digs, a block and an assist.

Junior A-SUN All-Academic Team member Hannah Morris finished with 41 assists, an ace and four digs.

Defensively, along with Goodwin and Williams' combined 12 blocks, senior Margaret Latchford finished with 23 digs and three assists.

For the Lady Hatters, no one reached double digits in kills. Junior Evi Deisa was the closest as she finished with nine kills, two assists and five digs.

Junior Emily DeStaffino had 22 assists, two kills and four digs.

Senior A-SUN All-Conference Second Team member Hao Jin was held to three kills, but had two aces, two blocks and two digs.

Defensively, senior Julie Varga and sophomore Chelcie Spence finished with double-digit digs (10: Varga; 12, Spence).

DeStaffino's assists and Varga and Spence's digs were the only stats that were in double digits for the Lady Hatters.

Meanwhile #3 Lipscomb (18-11) would follow as they beat #6 UNF 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-18) end the Ospreys season at 11-22.

Offensively for the Lady Bison, it was senior A-SUN All-Conference First Team member Carlyle Nusbaum and sophomore Megan Kuper that led the way. Nusbaum had a double-double of 16 kills and 14 digs, an assist, an ace and three blocks while Kuper had 14 kills, six digs, an assist and a block.

Junior A-SUN All-Academic Team member Morgan Elmore also finished with a double-double of 30 assists and 10 digs and an ace.

Senior Marcella Emmanuelli finished behind Elmore with 21 assists, an ace and three digs.

Defensively, Senior Lauren Anderson finished with 21 digs while fellow senior Ca'Layci Coffey finished with two blocks to go with her nine kills.

A-SUN All-Freshman Team member Logan Gish would finish with eight kills and a block.

For the Ospreys, they were without junior Taryn Griffey and senior Alana Shoff, who were out due to injuries, so leading the way offensively was sophomore Devyn Wheeler and redshirt sophomore Gabby O'Connell. Wheeler would finish with 17 kills and two blocks while O'Connell finished with a double-double of 12 kills and 11 digs, three aces, two assists and two blocks.

A-SUN All-Freshman Team member Solimar Cestero would finish with eight kills, a block and a dig.

Senior Madilyn McCarty would finish with 36 assists, two kills, three blocks and five digs.

Defensively, along with blocks from Wheeler, O'Connell, Cestero and McCarthy, sophomores Callie Workman and Emma Dixon and freshman Kirby Smith also added blocks of their own.

Senior Asante Lopez finished with 21 digs.

"I'm proud of our girls. It's mind boggling how much we've grown from day one. We were playing our best volleyball of the year and doing so without our top point scorer [Taryn Griffey] and senior Alana Shoff. We are very young and have laid a solid foundation to build upon. I want to thank our seniors for their drive, support and commitment. We will miss them."

Up Next:
With the semifinals set in stone, #1 FGCU will take on #4 Liberty at 5 P.M. followed by #2 Kennesaw taking on #3 Lipscomb at 7:30 P.M. on Friday, November 16.