"I thought Florida played tremendously well," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "They served the ball great. That was really the story of the match and put us in some pretty big holes pretty early in each of those sets. I was really impressed with that. I don't think we were as prepared for that facet of their game, and they did it extremely well. We knew they were going to be big and physical at the net, but I thought the way they managed from the service line and their first contact had us on our heels from the beginning."
"After Friday and Sunday matches, when we're on the floor doing autographs, we are meeting people from all over the state," said head coach Mary Wise. Maybe there were many Gators fans that did not have to travel that far. This is a great venue for volleyball – the size of it. Credit Gator Nation for the atmosphere this evening."
Offensively, it was sophomore Cortney VanLiew that led the Eagles offensively as she finished with 12 kills and five digs. With her 12 kills, VanLiew ended her sophomore year with 790 career kills and remains 10 shy of becoming the seventh Eagle to reach 800, and with her five digs, she finished with 535.
Fellow sophomore Snowy Burnam finished behind VanLiew with seven kills, four digs and a block. With her seven kills, Burnam ends her sophomore year with 446 in her career.
Senior Maggie Rick and freshman Chelsea Lockey finished with 12 assists each. Rick added five digs while Lockey added two. For Rick, she ends her career with 4,540 career assists and 834 career digs, while Lockey ends with 475 assists for the season. In the end, Rick's 4,540 is good for fifth all-time in the A-SUN Volleyball record books.
"I'm incredibly proud of my teammates," said Rick. "I think all season, since the first day, we worked so hard to accomplish our goals, winning the conference tournament and getting to the NCAA tournament was a huge goal for us. The fact that we were able to not only meet that goal, but exceed it is incredible and I'm so proud of my teammates."
Senior Sharonda Pickering finished with six kills, a dig and a blocks and ended her senior year in the top five in the nation in hitting percentage (.419), which breaks the program's single-season record previously held by Cara Ziegler (.416, 2007). She fell just shy of Ziegler's (.403, 2006-07) career record, though, and finished her career at .399.
Junior Giovanna "Giogio" Borgiotti finished with two kills and ended her junior campaign with 495 career kills and remains five shy of becoming the 16th player to reach 500 career kills.
Fellow junior Dani Serrano was held to one kill and one block. Serrano finishes her junior year with 614 career kills, 309 block assists and 363 total blocks.
Seniors Karissa Rhoades (one dig) and Kaiti Krivdo (one kill and two blocks) ended their senior years with their final contributions. For Rhoades, her last dig was her 877th. For Krivdo, she finishes 14th all-time in career block assists (129) and total blocks (139).
Defensively, freshman Dana Axner finished with 17 digs, two assists and an ace. Axner ends her freshman year as the all-time single season record holder for most digs in a single season (624, 5.20 per set). In addition, Axner passed Jelena Simic (615, 2009, 2011) for 13th all-time in career digs.
Freshman Tori Morris also contributed with a solo block.
"Our players would have liked to have performed at a higher level in an environment like this, but I know they gave everything they had," Botsford said. "We just didn't execute. I'm certainly proud of the effort and trying to take a step back and reflect on the job they've done all season and really celebrate that."
For the Gators, it was sophomore Paige Hammons that took most of the reins on offense. Hammons finished with 14 kills, eight digs, an ace and a block.
Junior Rachael Kramer finished with seven kills, an ace and two blocks.
"This crowd was great," said Kramer. "It honestly felt like a home match. You look around and just see Orange & Blue throughout the entire stadium. I cannot thank Gator Nation enough for them to come down all the way to Orlando. That is what pushed us over the edge this weekend – their support was incredible."
Redshirt sophomore Holly Carlton finished behind Hammons with nine kills, five blocks and two assists.
Assisting-wise, the Monserez sisters, redshirt senior Marlie and freshman Allie, had a combined 34 assists (14 for Marlie, 20 for Allie).
"Having our band here was great," said Allie Monserez. "We get to hear all of the chants going, it brings a familiar feeling. It was really awesome."
Junior Allie Gregory finished with 16 digs and two assists.
Early on, FGCU handled any nerves they had pretty well by jumping out to a 7-3 lead. Florida responded with five straight to force a timeout before the teams went back-and-forth with the Gators holding a 15-14 lead midway through the set. At that point, however, four straight kills spurred a 9-1 run for Florida that allowed them to eventually claim the opening set.
The teams exchanged the first four points of the next set, but Florida scored four straight and 14 of the next 19 to seize a 16-7 lead. Following that, they closed the set on a 6-2 run to take a 2-0 lead.
The final set featured a 7-0 run from the Gators late in the set after FGCU pulled within 17-15 on a kill from Burnam. Hammons sent Florida to the round of 16 with the match-winning attack.
FGCU concluded its season by tying the 2016 team's Division-I era single-season wins record. It was their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history while earning the conference's first tournament win since 2003. Additionally, the team's 16-match winning streak was snapped, but not before tying the Division-I era record - joining the 2012 and 2016 teams.
I'm very proud of what they've accomplish and they did phenomenal this season. For Karissa, Maggie, Kaiti, and Sharonda, thank you for being a great part of the FGCU volleyball team. For Amanda Carroll, be ready for your return next season.
For Coach Botsford, he finishes his fifth season at 116-45 overall and 60-15 in the A-SUN.
For the new players, Aja Jones, Shelby Besiner, Erin Shomaker, and Emma Szypszak, your collegiate journey will begin soon.
Thank you FGCU volleyball for a wonderful season.
Early on, FGCU handled any nerves they had pretty well by jumping out to a 7-3 lead. Florida responded with five straight to force a timeout before the teams went back-and-forth with the Gators holding a 15-14 lead midway through the set. At that point, however, four straight kills spurred a 9-1 run for Florida that allowed them to eventually claim the opening set.
The teams exchanged the first four points of the next set, but Florida scored four straight and 14 of the next 19 to seize a 16-7 lead. Following that, they closed the set on a 6-2 run to take a 2-0 lead.
The final set featured a 7-0 run from the Gators late in the set after FGCU pulled within 17-15 on a kill from Burnam. Hammons sent Florida to the round of 16 with the match-winning attack.
FGCU concluded its season by tying the 2016 team's Division-I era single-season wins record. It was their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history while earning the conference's first tournament win since 2003. Additionally, the team's 16-match winning streak was snapped, but not before tying the Division-I era record - joining the 2012 and 2016 teams.
I'm very proud of what they've accomplish and they did phenomenal this season. For Karissa, Maggie, Kaiti, and Sharonda, thank you for being a great part of the FGCU volleyball team. For Amanda Carroll, be ready for your return next season.
For Coach Botsford, he finishes his fifth season at 116-45 overall and 60-15 in the A-SUN.
For the new players, Aja Jones, Shelby Besiner, Erin Shomaker, and Emma Szypszak, your collegiate journey will begin soon.
Thank you FGCU volleyball for a wonderful season.
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