FGCU VB: Homewood Suites Fort Myers Classic Day One Recap

The FGCU volleyball team (1-0) opened their season at the Alico with successful as they defeated Akron (0-2) 3-1 (25-18, 24-26, 25-19, 25-14) at the Homewood Suites Fort Myers Classic. Prior to FGCU playing, San Diego State (2-0) opened the tournament with shutouts over Akron and Bryant (0-1). In addition, the Eagles unfurled their 2018 A-SUN championship banners.

Junior and reigning A-SUN player of the year Cortney VanLiew tallied a match-high 22 kills along with five digs. With her 22 kills, VanLiew became the seventh Eagle to reach 800 in her career. She now has 812 and needs 115 more to surpass Kaitlin Holm (926, 2011-13) for fourth-place in the program's Division I era. VanLiew's 22 digs was her sixth of 20 or more in her two plus year career.

Senior Daniele Serrano added 13 kills at a .458 clip to go along with her four block assists. Serrano's 13 kills put her at 627 in her career and is 23 away from passing Jelena Semic (649, 2009, 2011) for 13th all-time. As for her blocking, Serrano now has 313 block assists and 367 total blocks.

Sophomore Chelsey Lockey led all players with 48 assists and registered 11 digs for her fourth career double-double.

Defensively, sophomore Dana Axner had a match-high 28 digs with four assists. With her 28 digs, Axner now has 652 career digs and is 30 away from surpassing Vanessa Benke (681, 2013-15) for eighth on the same list. Friday night represented the 14th 20 + dig performance of Axner's career, and it was tied for her third most in an FGCU uniform.

Freshmen Erin Shomaker and Aja Jones also made their impact on the match, finishing third and fourth on the team, respectively, in kills. Jones had seven kills and hit .385 with four block assists and a solo block, while Shomaker chipped in nine kills while hitting .412. Jones made her debut after graduating from Venice High School while Shoemaker graduated from Granville High School.

Classmate Shelby Beisner also made her debut after graduating from Charlotte High School. Beisner had one dig in the match.

Redshirt senior Amanda Carroll and junior Snowy Burnam each added nine digs. Carroll added two kills, putting her at 1,397 in her career with her career dig total put her up to 1,011, which puts her 74 shy of passing Courtney Stephens (1,084, 2014-17) for third place on the Division I era list. In addition, Carroll added one ace that put her at 102 in her career. Meanwhile, Burnam added five kills and three blocks. Burnam's five kills put her at 451 in her career.

As a team, FGCU hit. 313 with just 15 errors over 144 attempts.

In the opening set, the Eagles managed to take a 22-14 lead after losing four of the first five points. Then, a back-and-forth second set saw Akron take a 24-21 lead, but Burnam produced a kill and then teamed with Serrano for a double-block to knot things at 24. Akron took the next two, though, to even the match up.

Following that, things remained close as each team traded a 4-0 run to open the third. A pair of kills from Shomaker helped give FGCU an 8-5 lead and another mini-run later helped the Eagles take a five-point lead before finishing off a 25-19 win. A 10-2 run midway through the final set then allowed the Green and Blue to cruise to a match-clinching set win.

Junior Alexis Adleta led the Zips with 15 kills, while classmate Emily Weigand had 37 assists. Defensively, junior Taylor Sharrits had 21 digs.

"It took a little bit of time to find our rhythm," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "I thought Akron did a really good job. We had difficulty managing their left sides for a large portion of the match. We finally figured something out at the end, but it took longer than we would have liked. We had three freshmen play and two that had a significant role in Aja (Jones) and Erin (Shomaker). Those two did great. It's tough to come into an environment like this, but I thought they were outstanding."

"We did a number of things well today, one of which was pass at a high level," said Akron head coach Tom Hanna. "Unfortunately, we weren't as sharp as we could be offensively, and we made some service errors that were costly. Fortunately, these are fixable things that we can hopefully correct against a very good FGCU team tonight."

The win for Botsford was his 116th win as head coach while long-time assistant coach Daniel Mahy earned his 267th win as a coach for the Eagles and his 295th win overall that included 28 wins with DII Barry University

Up Next:
FGCU will now get a quick turnaround as they will host reigning NCAA Tournament participant Bryant at 11 a.m. on Saturday before closing the event with a 7 p.m. tilt against San Diego State in Alico Arena. There will be free Dunkin' for all fans while supplies last for the morning match, while the evening will feature Stars and Stripes Night where marketing will give away free mini USA flags and honor veterans and first responders throughout the night.

FGCU MSOC @ #13 Michigan Recap

 The FGCU men's soccer team (1-0-0) kicked off the 2019 campaign in upsetting-fashion taking down 13th-ranked Michigan (0-1-0) 4-3, highlighted by senior Ryan Medilah netting the program's sixth overall hat trick, scoring twice in the first half. The win becomes the first against a ranked opponent in the regular season since the Eagles defeated No. 8 UCF 2-1 in 2011.

"I'm proud of our ability to compete in a very difficult environment," said head coach Jesse Cormier. "To build a two-goal lead against a top NCAA caliber team twice says a lot about our fire power, but I still think we are capable of playing better. Our passing and movement was lacking and we can certainly improve our defending. We will look to do that against No. 7 Michigan State Monday afternoon."

For starting goalkeepers, Cormier sent redshirt junior Gustavo Vasconcelos to the box while Michigan head coach Chaka Daley sent senior Andrew Verdi to counter.

That fire power coach Cormier alluded to put the Eagles on the board early. In the sixth minute, Medilah headed a cross home from the right delivered by classmate Shak Adams for the 1-0 lead. Eight minutes later, the Parisian native bagged the brace, this time off a set-piece. Outside the right of the 15-yard box, Medilah rifled a low line drive that found the corner of the far post. Ahead 2-1, the home side cut the deficit down to one in the 31st minute and soon the match was tied 2-2 as the Wolverines struck again in the 43rd.

FGCU walked into the break with four shots on the board. Medilah collected his hat trick 12 minutes into the second half. It's the first since Adams netted one last season against USF in a 5-3 win. Maneuvering around the penalty area, he found a cross that bounced a few times only to head it into the back of the net near post. With a 3-2 lead, senior Ivan Rosales registered the eventual game-winning goal in the 80th minute, taking a pass from Medilah atop the box and curling it into the top right-corner.

Despite Michigan tallying a goal in the 89th minute, (1-0) was critical down the stretch, coming up with two diving stops inside the final 10 minutes. He would finish with six saves, all coming in the second half.

All said FGCU recorded seven shots, five on goal, as the Eagles final possession line read 40 percent.

Junior Max Edwards (Radford), sophomore Alex Guichard (Charleston: NCAA DII), and senior Ernest Mitchell (Marist) made their debuts for the Eagles after transferring.

Up Next:
The road gets tougher for the Eagles as they make their way to East Lansing for a matchup against the No. 7 Spartans Monday afternoon at 2 pm.

FGCU WSOC @ Michigan Recap

The FGCU women's soccer team (1-1-0) fell on the road to Michigan (3-0-0) by a score of 2-0, Friday evening at U-M Soccer Stadium.

"Tonight was a disappointing result," said head coach Jim Blankenship. "You got to give credit to Michigan and how they came out. We'll learn from this outcome and start getting ready for La Salle at home Thursday night."

It was a slow first half for the Eagles as the attack struggled to get things turning, recording just one shot courtesy of newcomer Louise Lillback (Stockholm, Sweden/Tibble Gymnasium) in the 14th minute. Following a corner kick, Hannah Blake put the Wolverines on the board to make it 1-0 in the 24th minute. Right before the intermission, Meredith Haakenson gave Michigan a 2-0 lead in the 43rd. A cross from just outside the 15-yard box bounced a few times before it was headed in.

Senior Melissa Weck (1-1) came away with three saves in the first half, facing seven shots.

In the second half, the FGCU defense limited Michigan to a pair of shots with only one coming on frame. Meanwhile, the offense began to find some rhythm, coming away with four shots with close opportunities coming from senior Evdokia Popadinova and redshirt junior Megan Young.

In the 78th minute, Popadinova fired a shot just outside the 15-yard box that sailed over the crossbar. Six minutes later, Young launched one from about 20 yards forcing the Wolverine keeper to diver to the near post for the save.

Weck capped off her night in net with four saves. On offense, FGCU walked away with five shots, one on target.

Up Next:
The Eagles will return home to face La Salle (1-1-1) Thursday night, Sept. 5 at 7 pm.

FGCU XC: FAU Invitational Recap

The FGCU men's and women's cross country programs capped off their season-opening meet Friday night at South County Regional Park. The men's side took home second overall while the women's team placed fifth.

"The first meet is under our belts," said head coach Cassandra Goodson. "Just like any competition, there were a few things that we are happy with and a few things we learned about our team today. It's very early in the season so we're looking forward to getting back to the Nest and getting to work." 

Junior Lucas Kiprotich led the men's group coming in ninth overall as sophomore Austin Redondo was right on his heels coming in 11th. Junior Boniface Mutai followed him in 13th while senior Jan Figueroa placed 15th. The final runner to score and give the Eagles 52 points was newcomer, freshman Benjamin Hermiston who crossed right after Figueroa in 16th. Eagles continued to cross the end line with sophomore Bradyn Ricca posting a time seven seconds faster on this course from a year ago for 17th place as Bryce Bell (Orlando, Fla./Lyman HS) was just milliseconds behind placing 18th.

On the women's side, sophomore Emily O'Connor was the first runner to score for FGCU placing 14th overall. The 28-29 spots went to the Eagles as classmates Jillian Felton and Julia Filip followed one another. Filip turned in a time nearly one minute faster on this course one season ago. With three Eagles now in the books, freshman Gianna Citarella placed 32nd as junior Madeline Wyers scored coming in 38th to give FGCU 125 points.

Just like Citarella, freshman Reilly Ritter got a taste of her first collegiate race crossing the finish line 44th overall.

Up Next:
The Eagles will return back to the course next Saturday, Sept. 7 to host the FGCU Invitational taking place at the Buckingham Property which is also the site of the 2019 A-SUN Championship.

Men's Individual Results
9. Lucas Kiprotich –16:05.63
11. Austin Redondo – 16:07.88
13. Boniface Mutai – 16:15.96
15. Jan Figueroa – 16:27.20
16. Benjamin Hermiston – 16:27.96
17. Bradyn Ricca – 16:31.51 (seven seconds faster than 2018)
18. Bryce Bell – 16:31.95

Women's Individual Results
14. Emily O'Connor – 19:51.52
28. Jillian Felton – 20:28.34
29. Julia Filip – 20:29.39 (one minute faster than 2018)
32. Gianna Citarella – 20:56.95
38. Madeline Wyers – 21:36:39
44. Reilly Ritter – 22:16.99

Men's Teams
1. Stetson – 20
2. FGCU – 52
3. FAU – 81
4. Nova Southeastern – 119
5. FIU – 129
6. Ave Maria – 150

Women's Teams
1. FAU – 32
2. UCF – 76
3. Nova Southeastern – 110
4. FIU – 117
5. FGCU – 125
6. Miami – 139
7. Stetson – 145
8. Ave Maria – 178

Comeback for SCF VB Falls Short Over PHSC

In their home opener, the SCF volleyball team (0-4) made a big comeback attempt in the fourth set, but were unable to continue as they fell 3-1 (23-25, 18-25, 25-22, 20-25) to Pasco-Hernando State (2-3). With the loss, the Manatees are now 4-8 against the Bobcats.

"I feel we did a great job on serve/receive passing and defense, but the issue was we did not execute offensively tonight," said head coach Angela Byrd. "We gave up too many points and it was nothing the other team did. I feel like it was us making the mistakes, so I feel we costed ourselves the points."

"We missed 13 serves, which one missed serve is a two point turnaround easily, and I just feel like we did not execute offensively. We passed over 2.0 very well as well from defensive standpoint. The defense got the balls up, but we didn't put it away enough."

Offensively, it was Lakeesha Esseboom who lead the team with 10 kills and a block while Daviya "Day" Bernard added six kills.

"Keesha got hot throughout the match," said Byrd on Esseboom. "We told her 'you just got to get a hold of one ball and once you do, your game will go up. There were times I felt she brought us back in the third set, mainly when she had three kills in a row. Freshman Gracee Carpino had 26 assists as well as three aces.

Sophomore Barbora Tichackova returned to the lineup after missing the Santa Fe/USA Classic due to an injury. Tichackova finished with six kills, five blocks (two solo) and two aces.

"Barbora did a good job moving the ball around and made some smart plays when it came to her onto to tip to the back corner," said Byrd on Tichackova.

Defensively, three players finished with double digit digs, sophomores Sydney Jaco and Hannah Strickland and freshman Brooke Henry. Jaco finished with 23 digs and three assists while Strickland and Henry had 11 digs each. Strickland added two assists of her own.

"Sydney and Brooke did a really good job on defense," said Byrd on Jaco and Henry. "Having them in the back row together pretty much heightens our defense and our chances to score again. They were the ones that passed a majority of the balls."

In fact, Jaco's 23 digs put her at 881 digs in her career. The product of Braden River has already set milestones at 800 and 850 and is 119 away from reaching 1,000 career digs.

Freshmen Brooke Sereda and Mary Lowe led the Bobcats with a double-double each. Sereda had 14 kills and 10 digs while Lowe 26 assists and 12 digs along with six aces. Sophomore Linsey Christianson had 23 digs and five assists.

Scores in the Suncoast:
Hillsborough (9-0) competed in the Pensacola Tournament where they shutout host Pensacola State College, Gadsden State Community College, Snead State Community College, Lee College, and Coastal Alabama - East. They will be hosting two matches against Pasco-Hernando State and Santa Fe.

St. Pete College (1-0) defeated CCF in their season opener by a score of 3-1. They will be competing in the Patriots Invitational hosted by CCF and face Palm Beach State College, Broward College, Odessa College and Florida State College at Jacksonville.

Florida Southwestern (FSW) (2-2) will be competing in the Polk Invitational against host #7 Polk State and Daytona State.

Up Next:
The Manatees will travel to Ocala for the two-day Patriots Invitational, hosted by College of Central Florida (CCF) (4-1). The Manatees will play Spartanburg Methodist (1-3), Odessa College (5-0), Florida State College at Jacksonville (1-3) and host CCF.

"You can expect high offensive power from all the teams," said Byrd on the tournament. "Which is normally our offensive power, which were ok with because we have a solid defense. Having that high offensive power, we just have to find a way again to execute offensively. Once this team starts to execute offensively, we'll be awesome. Right now we're a good team, we can be a great team once we put all the pieces together. We still got to get a couple more pieces put together and when the offensive execution comes, we'll be a force to be reckoned with."

*Side note: This was the first post-game recap with coach Byrd.

FGCU MSOC @ #13/24 Michigan; #7/8 Michigan State Preview

The FGCU men's soccer team will be tested from the start as the Eagles hit the road to start the 2019 season against No. 13 Michigan and No. 7 Michigan State.

The Green and Blue:
This will be the fourth-straight year the squad starts its season on the road as head coach Jesse Cormier enters his third year at the helm. In 2018, the Eagles produced a 9-5-2 (5-1-0) record, collecting their seventh overall A-SUN regular season crown while making it to the A-SUN Tournament for an eighth-straight year.

FGCU returns its three A-SUN First Team members in senior Shak Adams, sophomore O'Vonte Mullings (Freshman of the Year), and redshirt junior Gustavo Vasconcelos (Goalkeeper of the Year). Adams led the team in goals (eight) and assists (eight), Mullings was second with seven goals. Keeper Vasconcelos secured 62 saves with three clean sheets as he led the A-SUN in save percentage (.782).

Overall, the Eagles are 3-3-1 against Big 10 opponents.

Scouting the Wolverines:
Michigan went 12-5-4 (4-2-2 Big 10) in 2018 with a second round appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines return 18 players from last season's roster, including five who started at least 10 matches. Senior Jack Hallahan netted eight goals and assists apiece last year as he was named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List earlier this summer.

TopDrawerSoccer.com has the Wolverines ranked No. 13 while the United Soccer Coaches poll has them at No. 24.

This will be the second all-time meeting between both programs as they battled to a 2-2 draw in 2016 at the Nest.

Scouting the Spartans:
Michigan State is coming off a historical season producing an overall record of 14-5-4 (4-2-2 Big 10), advancing to the NCAA College Cup for the first time since 1968. Giuseppe Barone returns as he led the Spartans with 10 assists and was second in points (16). He went on to earn First Team All-American Honors.

The United Soccer Coaches poll have the Spartans ranked No. 7, meanwhile, TopDrawerSoccer.com have them one spot above at No. 8.

This will be the first all-time meeting between both programs.

Livestats will be available for both matches and will air on the Big 10 Network Plus.

Livestats Link vs Michigan: https://mgoblue.com/sidearmstats/msoc/summary

Livestats Link vs Michigan State: https://admin.msuspartans.com/sidearmstats/msoc/summary

Livestream Link vs #13 Michigan: https://www.btnplus.com/game/florida-gulf-coast-at-michigan-on-08302019-1

Livestream Link vs Michigan State: https://www.btnplus.com/game/florida-gulf-coast-at-michigan-st-on-09022019

FGCU VB: Homewood Suites Classic Preview

 The FGCU volleyball team will open the 2019 season on Friday at 7 p.m. against Akron as part of the Homewood Suites Fort Myers Classic. The tilt is part of a six-match, two-day event that also includes San Diego State, Akron and Bryant, who went 22-13 overall last year and advanced to the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 2 Minnesota in the opening round.

For the Eagles, it will be their first action since concluding a thrilling 2018 campaign in which they captured the ASUN regular season and tournament championships before advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament behind a thrilling opening-round upset of No. 13 UCF on the road.

"This is going to be an exciting year for FGCU volleyball, and the chance to kick things off at home is a big plus for our team," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "2018 was such a magical season for our program, and I know there are a lot of local supporters who are eager to celebrate last year's successes while also getting an early glimpse at this talented group."

This year's team will feature several of the best players in program history. Amanda Carroll, who missed all but five matches of last year's NCAA Tournament run due to injury, returns for her redshirt senior campaign. The 2017 A-SUN Co-Player of the Year is one of just two players in program history with at least 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. She is the program's all-time leader in kills with 1,395 and just sits just 321 shy of second place all-time on the A-SUN career list.

Meanwhile, junior outside hitter Cortney VanLiew played a larger role last year following Carroll's exit. All she did was produce 482 kills and 312 digs en route to becoming the unanimous A-SUN Player of the Year and the first player in program history to be named an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American. She has been named the conference's preseason player of the year.

Defensively, Dana Axner is coming off a freshman campaign in which she broke the program's single-season digs record with 624. She went on to become the first player in conference history to win the defensive player and freshman of the year awards. VolleyballMag.com also named her a Second Team Freshman All-American, just behind Oregon libero Brooke Nuneviller. Axner was tabbed as the A-SUN's preseason defensive player of the year.

Senior middle blocker Daniele Serrano, who is already the program's all-time leader in total blocks (363) and block assists (309), also ranks second in program history in solo blocks (54) and leads all players in the Division I era (2007-present) in blocks per set (1.07). Furthermore, she ranks 10th in career kills (614) and second in hitting percentage (.347).

Following this weekend, the Green and Blue will hit the road for the next several weeks as they don't return home until a Sept. 27 tilt against North Alabama. Over that road stretch, FGCU will face six teams that finished within the top 100 of the final RPI last year - No. 8 Kentucky, No. 10 Central Florida, No. 71 Indiana, No. 75 Florida Atlantic, No. 79 Miami (Fla.) and No. 98 South Florida.

Promotions:
On Friday night, the 2018 A-SUN championship team will be honored pre-match with a banner ceremony. The marketing department will also be giving away free schedule magnets and there will be a post-match poster signing by the team.

On Saturday morning, there will be free Dunkin' for all fans while supplies last. In the evening against San Diego State, marketing will give away free mini USA flags as part of Stars and Stripes Night. We will honor our veterans and first responders throughout the match and the team will sign posters once again.

SCF VB Readies for Second Tournament

After a heart-breaking loss in their home opener, the SCF volleyball team (0-4) return to neutral grounds as they compete in the Patriots Invitational at the Patriot Gym in Ocala. The Manatees will take on Spartanburg Methodist (1-3) at 1 pm and Odessa College (5-0) at 3 pm on Friday, August 30 before facing host College of Central Florida (CCF) (4-1) at 1 pm and Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) (1-2) at 5 pm on Saturday, August 31.

Last Time Out:
The Manatees played in their home opener against Pasco-Hernando State where they fell by a score of 3-1. The team is hopefully looking for their first win at the tournament.

Sophomore Lakeesha Esseboom leads the team with 34 kills and nine blocks. Esseboom finished with 10 kills and a block in the match against Pasco-Hernando.

Trailing Esseboom offensively is freshman Leilani Wilcox-Nanai. the native of Christchurch, New Zealand has 21 kills and 40 digs in her name as well as four aces. In her match against Pasco-Hernando, Wilcox-Nanai finished with five kills.

Other players in double digit kills include sophomore Daviya Bernard (18) and freshmen Jazmin Spencer (16) and Bailey Sikkema (14). Bernard is also second on the team in blocks (8).

Freshman Gracee Carpino leads the team with 101 assists and six aces. The setter from Wellington, Florida finished the match against PHSC with 26 assists and three aces.

Defensively, aside from Esseboom and Bernard's total blocks and Wilcox-Nanai's digs, sophomore Hannah Strickland and freshman Brooke Henry continue to play big roles as defensive specialists. Strickland has 31 digs and three aces while Henry has 40 digs and two aces.

"Czech" Return:
Sophomore Barbora Tichackova made her on court return for the homer opener after missing the Santa Fe/USA Classic due to a spider bite. The native of Leberec, Czech Republic had six kills and five blocks against PHSC.

1,000 and Closing:
As she nears closer to the milestone of the 1,000 dig club, sophomore Sydney Jaco continues her path for 1,000 career digs. The local product of Braden River High School currently has 97 digs this season and has 881 digs in her career. In the home opener against PHSC, Jaco had 23 digs and three assists.

Scouting Spartanburg Methodist:
The Pioneers are located in Spartanburg, South Carolina where they represent the Carolina Junior College Conference (CJCC) in NJCAA Region 10. The team is led by first year head coach Katie Zimmerman.

The Pioneers recently competed and hosted the two-day SMC Invitational last weekend. They would fall on day one losing 3-2 to Cape Fear Community College and shutout 3-0 by Wallace State Community College-Hanceville before splitting day two with a 3-1 win over College of Lake County and and a 3-0 loss Walters State Community College.

Sophomores Molly Mather and Aeyane Mattress lead the team offensively where they had a combined 56 kills (Mather: 30; Mattress: 26). Mather also leads the team in total blocks (4), while Mattress is second on the team in digs (47) and classmate Savannah Ducote leads the team with 56 assists.

Defensively, sophomore Kameron Neese leads the team with 71 digs and five aces.

Scouting Odessa:
The Wranglers are located in Odessa, Texas where they represent the Western Junior College Athletic Conference (WJCAC) in NJCAA Region 5. They are led by head coach Kristi Gray, who enters her third season as head coach.

The Wranglers are coming off competing in the New Mexico Military Institute Classic last weekend where they defeated Pima Community College (3-0), Arizona Western College (3-2), Scottsdale Community College (3-1) and Hutchinson Community College (3-1) before defeating Brookhaven College (3-1).

Sophomore Carol Santana leads the team with 50 kills and seven aces, while redshirt sophomore Alexis Parrish has 34 kills and freshman Marina De La Rosa has 100 assists in her name thus far.

The freshmen duo of Luisa Silva Dos Santos and Lyric Love are the hearts of blocking as they have a combined 57 total blocks (Silva Dos Santos: 32; Love: 25) while sophomore Faith Sanchez leads the team with 59 digs.

Scouting FSCJ:
The Blue Wave are coming off of competing in the two-day HCC Tournament where they were shutout by Indian River State on day one before splitting day two with a shutout win over Lake Sumter and shutout loss to HCC.

The Blue Wave were supposed to have their first home matchup against Montreat College's JV team (NAIA), but it was cancelled.

Offensively, sophomores Jana Cuk (26 kills) and Marine Angely (25 kills) and redshirt freshman Jhoana Sandoval (22 kills) play big roles on their offense. Sandoval also leads the team with four total blocks.

The Blue Wave have a possibility of doing a tri-setter formation with sophomore Iveanie Galio and freshmen Nadia Ball-Starks and Leah Mortensen. The trio of setters have a combined 79 assists.

Scouting CCF:
The Patriots hosted the CF Volleyball Invitational where they shutout Gulf Coast State 3-0 and defeated Miami Dade 3-2 on day one before shutting out Florida Gateway and Florida Southwestern (FSW) 3-0. They would then earn their first loss by a score of 3-1 to St. Pete (8/27). The Patriots will play FCSJ in a division match at Eckerd College prior to hosting their second tournament.

Sophomore Amanda Lebioda leads the team with 38 kills while adding 37 digs. Not far behind Lebioda offensively in kills is classmate Kariema Rodriguez (27 kills) and freshmen Nataly Garcia (28 kills) and Giovana Larregui (27 kills).

Defensively for the Patriots, freshman Essence Bell leads the team with 110 digs (2nd in the nation) while sophomore Lesly Johansson leads the team with 15 blocks (six solo).

Series History (2012-present):
The matchup against Spartanburg Methodist will be the first time, but the Manatees have faced Odessa, CCF and FSCJ in the past.

Against Odessa, this will be the second time both teams face each other. The first time was on September 20, 2014 where the Manatees won 3-1 at the SCF Invitational.

Against CCF, the Manatees are 5-12 against the Patriots. Last time both teams met, the Patriots defeated the Manatees three times in 2018 (9/18, 9/21 and 10/13). The Manatees last win over CCF was in 2014 where they won 3-0 in the final season match before winning the second time in the FCSAA State/ NJCAA District Tournament winning 3-0

Against FSCJ, the Manatees are 2-2 overall. Last time both teams met was in 2018 where they split a series losing 3-1 in the first match (8/27/18) before wining the second by a score of 3-2 (9/22/18).

How to Keep Up:
Fans can keep up to date with all five teams on Twitter:
SCF: @SCFVolleyball
SMC: @GOSMCPIONEERS
Odessa: @OCWranglerVB
FSCJ: @FSCJVB
CCF: @cfpats

SCF VB Readies for Home Opener vs Pasco

PC: SCF Manatees Facebook

Hoping to bounce back from their first three matches, the SCF volleyball team (0-3) readies for their home opener at Hal Chasey Gymnasium in Bradenton, Wednesday, August 28 at 6 pm. The Manatees welcome Pasco-Hernando State (1-3) as their opponent for their matchup.

Last Time Out:
The Manatees are coming off of opening the season on neutral grounds in Gainsville at the Santa Fe/Campus USA Classic where they fell to host Santa Fe 3-1 on day one before wrapping up day two with losses against Daytona State (3-0) and Palm Beach State (3-2).

Key Players:
Offensively, the Manatees are led by sophomore Lakeesha Esseboom. Esseboom lead the team with 24 kills and eight blocks in the tournament.

Not too far behind offensively are freshmen Jazmin Spencer and Leilani Wilcox-Nanai. Both finished the tournament with 16 kills each.

Freshman Gracee Carpino leads the team with 75 assists.

Aside from Esseboom, sophomore Daviya Bernard has also played a key role defensively. Bernard has 12 kills and six blocks.

1,000 Dig Club:
Still following the footsteps of her older sister, Brittany, sophomore Sydney Jaco sets the toll defensively. Jaco currently has 74 digs in her name (6.17 per set) while already reaching the milestones of 800 and 850 career digs. Currently, Jaco has 858 in her career and has passed her older sister who had 827 in her career. Jaco is 142 away from reaching the 1,000 dig club.

Scouting PHSC:
The Bobcats finished last season 21-8 overall with a 10-1 record in the Sun-Lakes Conference (NJCAA DII).

This season, the Bobcats opened their season on neutral grounds at the two-day Central Florida Volleyball Invitational. They would get shutout by FSW and Miami Dade on August 23 before shutting out Florida Gateway and being shutout by Gulf Coast State.

The Bobcats were without Camden Bitter, Abby Epstein and Natasha Bannister as they graduated, but have brought back six sophomores.

Freshman Brooke Sereda leads the Bobcats offensively and defensively. Sereda leads the team with 21 kills and 64 digs.

Not too far behind Sereda offensively is sophomore Arianna Colon, while defensively it is classmate Linsey Christianson. Colon is second on the team in kills (19) while Christianson is second in digs (39).

The Bobcats will likely use a double setter rotation in freshman Mary Lowe and sophomore Morgan Bullinger as the duo have a combined 52 assists (Lowe: 30; Bullinger: 22).

Series History (2012-Present):
Overall, the Manatees are 4-7 against the Bobcats. Last time both teams met, the Bobcats were successful in the 2018 season, shutting out the Manatees twice (8/22/18 and 8/25/18). The Manatees last victory over the Bobcats was on August 29, 2016 where the Manatees won 3-0.

How to Keep Up:
The home matches will be livestream on the SCF YouTube page. Fans can also keep up with both teams on Twitter.

SCF: @SCFVolleyball
PHSC: @PHSCVolleyball

FGCU WSOC @ Michigan Preview

The FGCU women's soccer team (1-0) will open their first road match as they travel to Ann Arbor to face Michigan (2-0) at the U-M Soccer Stadium Friday night, August 30 at 5 pm.

Last Time Out:
The Eagles were originally scheduled to face RV Auburn at home and were able to compete for 45 before it was suspended ruled a no-contest. Because the game did not exceed over 70 minutes due to the weather and the addition of Auburn's travel restrictions, the NCAA rule book states that if conditions lead to a suspended game and the game is not resumed the same day, it is considered a "no contest".

Big Goals:
In the game against FIU, it was senior Marjorie "Ma" Boilesen that took over the offense as she notched the first two goals of the season for the Eagles. Boilesen's two goals put her at 18 in her career as she passed Gina Petracco (17, 2008-11) and tied for sixth all-time with Ally Kasun (17, 2012-15) before passing Kasun for sole possession of sixth all-time. Boilesen needs six to pass Paulina "Pau" Speckmaier (22, 2013-16) for fifth all-time.

Weck 200:
Senior Melissa Weck has sent a message as starting goalkeeper. Weck (1-0) got the shutout win over FIU with four saves. The native of Yorba, California has in fact boosted her careers stats from the game in saves, shutouts and wins. Weck's four saves put her at 202 in her career and is 61 away from passing Stephanie Powers (26, 2008-11) for second all-time. The shutout was her her 28.4th in her career and 2.7 away from passing Powers for second all-time. Weck earned her 42nd win as she tied Powers (42) for second all-time.

FGCU vs. Power 5:
Since the jump to D1, the Eagles are 13-18-2 against teams from the Power 5 Conference.

Scouting the Maize and Blue:
The Wolverines are coming off opening their first two games at home as they defeated Marshall (5-0) and Utah Valley (2-1 OT).

Three players have two goals each: junior Sarah Stratigakis, sophomore Meredith Haakenson and freshman Danielle Wolfe. Meanwhile in the box, junior Hillary Beall has five saves in her name.

Series History:
This will be the second time both teams meet. The first time was last season at the FGCU Soccer Complex where the Eagles won 3-2.

How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be available for the game and will air on the Big Ten Network livestrean (BTN+). The stream will cost money ($9.95 monthly or $79.95 yearly).

Fans can also keep up to date with both teams on Twitter:
Twitter Accounts:
FGCU: @FGCU_WSoccer
Michigan: @umichwsoccer

Promotions:
At the U-M Soccer Stadium, Michigan is promoting the game as 'Dollar Day', so general admission and concessions for everyone is $1. In addition, the first 250 fans upon arrival will get a free koozie.

Livestats Link: https://mgoblue.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary

BTN+ Link: https://www.btnplus.com/game/florida-gulf-coast-at-michigan-on-08302019?tid=17

FGCU WSOC vs RV Auburn Recap

The Sunday afternoon match between the FGCU women's soccer team (1-0) and Auburn (0-1) was cancelled due to weather. The teams made it through the first half of play before a storm cell parked on top of the FGCU Soccer Complex. Because the Tigers had travel restrictions, the teams were forced to call the game.

Both FGCU and Auburn battled the weather conditions in Southwest Florida throughout the day. The game was originally scheduled for a 1 p.m. start time, but lightning in the area bumped kick-off back a little over an hour. Though the teams were able to start the game, the players had to deal with intermittent sprinkles throughout the opening 45 minutes.

"Obviously, it's unfortunate because any time we get an opportunity to play against this level of competition, we want to get the game in," said head coach Jim Blankenship. "I was really pleased to see the way that we came out and battled as a team. We talked to the players about maintaining possession and putting the pressure on and they did a great job at executing that. We will still watch film of the first half and learn from it before we head to Michigan to take on another top school next weekend."

The Eagles outshot their visitors 6-4 and dominated possession, owning a 64-36% advantage. The Tigers came out aggressively and tested goalkeeper Melissa Weck (Yorba Linda, CA/Esperanza HS) early in the match, as the senior came up with her first save just over two minutes into play. FGCU also had a few good chances, highlighted by a shot from redshirt-junior Megan Young in the 37th minute that bounced off the left post. A few minutes later, Young (White Lake, MI/Walled Lake Northern HS) had a breakaway shot that she tried to sneak through the side, but Auburn's keeper made the save. Senior Evdokia Popadinova (Hadzhidimovo, Bulgaria/Northwestern Ohio) also tested the Tigers' goalie with a one-on-one opportunity, but her shot was saved. The teams went into the break knotted up at 0-0 just before the second lightning delay went into effect.

Because the game did not progress to 70 minutes, it is incomplete. The NCAA rule book states that if conditions lead to a suspended game and the game is not resumed the same day, it is considered a "no contest".

Up Next:
The Eagles will hit the road for the first time this season to head to Ann Arbor for a match against Michigan (1-0-0) on Friday, Aug. 30. Kick-off against the Wolverines is set for 5 p.m. at the U-M Soccer Stadium. It will be the second meeting between the two programs; FGCU claimed a 3-2 over Michigan at the FGCU Soccer Complex last season.

SCF VB Falls at Two-Day SF Classic

The SCF volleyball team (0-3) fell in their season opener on day one of the Santa Fe/Campus USA Classic to host Santa Fe (2-0) by a score of 3-1 (25-21, 19-25, 21-25, 16-25). On day two, the Manatees were shutout 3-0 (10-25, 19-25, 15-25) by Daytona State (3-0) before falling in a heart-breaking 3-2 (18-25, 25-20, 17-25, 26-24, 14-16) loss to Palm Beach State (2-1) With the loss, the Manatees are now 1-4 against the Saints, 2-12 against the Falcons and 7-7 against the Panthers.

Offensively, sophomore Lakeesha Esseboom led the tournaments with 24 kills freshmen Jazmin Spencer and Leilani Wilcox-Nanai followed with 16 each and freshman Gracee Carpino led the way with 75 assists. Carpino, Spencer and sophomore Hannah Strickland had three aces each. Esseboom also added eight blocks on the defensive front.

Sophomore Daviya Bernard finished the tournament with 12 kills and six blocks.

Defensively, sophomore Sydney Jaco led the team with 74 digs. In fact, she surpassed her older sister, Brittany for the most career digs and has reached the milestone of 800 and 850 career digs and now has 858 in her career so far.

Aside from Spencer, Wilcox and Carpino making their debuts, freshmen Bailey Sikkema, Lisa Jaunet and Brooke Henry also made their debuts.

Scores and Upcoming Matches From the Suncoast:
Hillsborough Community College (HCC) (3-0) opened their season at home with the two-day HCC Tournament where they defeated Lake Sumter 3-0 on day one before winning two tri-matches against Indian River State (IRS) and Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) by scores of 3-1 on day two. The Hawks will be competing in a five-match three-day tournament in Pensacola where they will face host Pensacola State College (Aug. 29), Gadsden State Community College (Aug. 30), Snead State Community College (Aug. 30), Lee College (Aug. 31) and Coastal Alabama (Aug. 31).

Florida Southwestern (FSW) (2-2) opened their inaugural season at the CCF Volleyball Invitational with shutout wins over Pasco-Hernando State and Florida Gateway on day one before losing two straight on day two against Miami Dade (3-1) and host CCF. The Buccaneers will travel to Winter Haven for the Polk State Invitational August 30 against Daytona State and host Polk State.

St. Petersburg College (SPC) will play their season opener at home as they welcome CCF Tuesday, August 27.

Up Next:
The Manatees hope to make up for the losses as they ready for their home opener against Pasco-Hernando State (1-3) at Hal Chasey Gymnasium.

FGCU WSOC vs RV Auburn Preview

After opening their season, the FGCU women's soccer team (1-0) remain at home as they welcome RV Auburn (0-1) to the FGCU Soccer Complex Sunday, August 25 at 1 pm.
Last Time Out:
The Eagles opened their season at home as they welcomed FIU for their 12th ever matchup. The Eagles would shut out FIU 2-0.

Debuts:
Three players made their debuts for the Eagles: freshmen Louise Lillback, Lander Peck and Alisson Wessel. Lillback was in the starting lineup, while Peck and Wessel came off the bench. Lillback got an assist in her first match

Big Goals:
In the game against FIU, it was senior Marjorie "Ma" Boilesen that took over the offense as she notched the first two goals of the season for the Eagles. Boilesen's two goals put her at 18 in her career as she passed Gina Petracco (17, 2008-11) and tied for sixth all-time with Ally Kasun (17, 2012-15) before passing Kasun for sole possession of sixth all-time. Boilesen needs five

Weck 200:
Senior Melissa Weck has sent a message as starting goalkeeper. Weck (1-0) got the shutout win over FIU with four saves. The native of Yorba, California has in fact boosted her careers stats from the game in saves, shutouts and wins. Weck's four saves put her at 202 in her career and is 61 away from passing Stephanie Powers (26, 2008-11) for second all-time. The shutout was her her 28.4th in her career and 2.7 away from passing Powers for second all-time. Weck earned her 42nd win as she tied Powers (42) for second all-time.

Scouting Auburn:
The Tigers, who finished last season 12-6-2 overall with a 4-5-1 record in the SEC, are receiving six votes in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. They began their season in Tampa as they fell 2-1 to #14 USF on Thursday, August 22.

Senior Jessie Gerow scored the team's lone goal in 59 minutes of play. Gerow scored five goals last season while being named a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll for the third straight year.

Redshirt senior Kate Hart (0-1) earned the loss while getting eight saves. Hart joined Auburn as a grad student after spending four years at San Diego State.

Series History:
This will mark the second ever matchup between the two teams. The first time was on November 15, 2014 in the first round of the NCAA National Soccer Tournament where the Eagles lost 1-0.

How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be available for the game and will air on ESPN+. Commentary will done by NBC2 sports reporter Joe Putrelo and FGCU Athletic Communications Assistant Chris Duarte. Fans can also keep up to date with both teams on Twitter.

Promotions:
The game will be dubbed as a white out as marketing in encouraging fans and Dirty Birds to wear white to the game. In addition, it will also be dubbed as a World Cup Celebration and Family Day. Former FGCU soccer standout Julia Roddar (2012-14) earned a bronze medal at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.

ESPN+:

The A-SUN will air on the new, subscription-based digital platform ESPN+, which will be the new home for select FGCU and A-SUN games and event broadcasts. Subscribers can try the new app for free for 30 days, which follows to $4.99 a month fee afterwards or can pay $39.99 per-year based on the viewers subscription choice.

Links:
Livestats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=267052

ESPN+: http://www.espn.com/watch?id=d918fc4e-bcf3-4b09-925d-6996649c7d91

Twitter Accounts:
FGCU: @FGCU_WSoccer
Auburn: @AuburnSoccer

FGCU WSOC vs FIU Recap

In a wave of green surrounding them, the FGCU women's soccer team (1-0) opened the regular season in success at the FGCU Soccer Complex as they shutout FIU (0-1) 2-0. With the win, the Eagles are now 10-1-1 against the Panthers.

"I was impressed by the way that the team played," head coach Jim Blankenship said. "We came out, we were competitive and we stayed dialed-in throughout the game. There were a few times when we got a little out of rhythm, but we got back on track. I was happy to see such a big crowd tonight; it really makes a difference when he have the fans out here with us."

For goalkeepers, Blakenship sent senior Melissa Weck to the box while FIU head coach Sharolta Nonen sent sophomore Christina Velazquez to counter.

Three minutes into the first half, the Panthers would commit their first foul by sophomore Lamia Rovcanin, but the Eagles would get their vengeance as senior Marjorie "Ma" Boilesen would get the first goal on the board with an assist by sophomore Alyssa Abbondandolo. Boilesen's goal was her 17th career goal with the Eagles as she passed Gina Petracco (2008-11) and is now tied sixth all-time with Ally Kasun (2012-15). Boilesen needed one goal to be sixth all-time and is six to pass Paulina "Pau" Speckmaier (2013-16) for fifth all-time all-time.

"The team this year has a great connection," said Boilesen. "We have a whole group of international players from all around the world and players that bring so much good energy not just on the field, but in the locker room too. Usually before the game, everyone gets nervous for our home opener and we knew a lot of people were going to come watch us play, so we were nervous but at the same time extremely excited to show everything that we can do on the field."

As the second half went underway, Boilesen would extend the lead five minutes with her second goal of the game with assists by junior Zoey Spitzer and freshman Louise Lillback. Lillback was making her debut after joining the Eagles spring 2019 from Tibble Gymnasium in Stockholm, Sweden. With her second goal, Boilesen passed Petracco for sixth all-time with her 18th career goal.

"I love when I can help my team in any way," said Boilesen on scoring. "Whether I get an assist or score a goal, I'm really happy to help my teammates. I wouldn't have scored those two goals without them because they made a big impact on the team as well."

10 minutes in, Nonen would send redshirt sophomore Julia Gottlieb to replace Velazquez, but it would make no difference for the Panthers as the Eagles pulled away with the win.

Weck (1-0) would earn the shutout win with four saves. Weck got her 199th, 200th and 201st career saves in the first half and has 202 in her career. Weck is 60 away from passing Stephanie Powers (2008-11) for second all-time. In addition, Weck's shutout was her 28.4th in her career and 2.7 away from passing Powers for second all-time and the win was her 42nd as she tied with Powers (42) for second all-time.

Velazquez (0-1) would earn the loss after 55 minutes, giving up both goals with five assists.

Gottlieb finished with two saves in 34 minutes.

Throughout the game, aside from Lillback, freshmen Lander Peck and Alison Wessel made their debuts. Peck, a local from Sanibel, joined FGCU after graduating from Bishop Verot, while Wessel came from St. Charles North High School in St. Charles, Illinois.

Up Next:
The Eagles remain at home as they welcome RV Auburn (0-1) to the nest on Sunday, August 25 at 1 pm. The Tigers lost their opening matchup to #14 USF in Tampa by a score of 2-1.

SCF Athletes: Where Are They Now? (2018-19)

While I got to meet many of the SCF athletes from the 2018-19 school, I was always curious to know where are they now and here's where we begin. As far as what I know, these are the athletes I know for sure where they are going.

Men's Basketball:
The Manatees finished 18-15 overall with a 6-6 record in the Suncoast where they won the Suncoast Conference Tournament and qualified for the FCSAA State Tournament for the first time since 2012-13. On the team, there were nine sophomores on the team: DeAndre Osuigwe, Tre Alexandrea, Corey Davis, Cyrus Barnes, Joel, Coffey, Dylan Porter, Miles Wilson, Clarence Miles and Shelby Rhodes.

Osuigwe: A rare pass-first guard, Osuigwe has committed to playing for the University of Alaska-Anchorage (NCAA DII) with his final two years of eligibility remaining, so he will be listed as a double transfer. The Seawolves finished last season 14-14 overall with a 9-11 record in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC).

Osuigwe spent his freshman year at Nyack College (NCAA DII) where he averaged 7.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in 25 games with 16 starts before transferring to SCF for his sophomore. As a Manatee, Osuigwe averaged 11.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while being named a member of the All-Suncoast Second Team.


Alexandrea: Alexandrea will be attending Thomas University (NAIA) in Thomasville, Gerogia with two years of eligibility remaining. The Night Hawks finished 13-13 overall with a 9-9 record in the Sun Conference.

Alexandrea began his collegiate career at SCF averaging seven points, 3.3 rebounds and five assists per game. After redshirting his sophomore year due to injury, Alexandrea finished his redshirt sophomore year with 9.2 points and 4.4 assists per game while joining Osuigwe on the All-Suncoast Second Team.


Davis: For Davis, he will be attending Keiser University (NAIA) as a double JUCO transfer with two years of eligibility remaining, Last season, Keiser went 15-14 overall with an 11-7 record in the Sun Conference. In their exhibition game against Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), the Seahawks fell 87-85, but gave the Eagles quite a scare. The Seahawks fell in the quarterfinals of the Sun Conference Tournament

Davis spent his freshman year at Columbia College (CCCAA) in Sonora, California where he averaged 3.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while helping the Jumpers to a 17-8 overall record with an 11-3 record in the Central Valley Conference. As a member of SCF, Davis averaged 2.8 points per game, which included a season-high 12 points against Impact Academy.

Barnes: Barnes will continue his basketball career at Lindenwood University (NCAA DII) in St. Charles, Missouri with two years of eligibility remaining. The Lions finished 16-16 overall last season with a 9-10 record in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MAIA) where they fell in the first round of the MIAA Tournament.

Barnes began his collegiate basketball career at SCF averaging 2.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. Upon the arrival of head coach Tom Parks, Barnes' stats started to skyrocket up as he averaged 9.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while joining Alexandrea and Osuigwe on the All-Suncoast Second Team.


Coffey: Coffey will be attending Webber International (NAIA). Coffeey averaged 2.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per game as a sophomore for SCF. Coffey will have two years of eligibility remaining upon arrival to Webber. The Warriors finished 13-17 overall with a 4-14 record in the Sun Conference.

Porter: Porter will be attending the University of Florida, but not as a member of the Gators basketball team. Porter played in four games and averaged 1.3 rebounds per game.

Miles: Miles will be attending St. Thomas University (NAIA) in Miami Gardens with two years of eligibility remaining. Last season, the Bobcats finished 11-16 overall with a 10-8 record in the Sun Conference where they made the postseason before falling in the quarterfinals of the Sun Conference Tournament.

The three point specialist averaged four points per game and had a team-leading 41% shooting percentage behind the arc. In one of his best games, Miles scored a career-high 29 points against Impact Academy while going 9-for-16 behind the arc.

Like Porter, Rhodes and Wilson will also be going to school only.

Volleyball:
After volleyball finished 6-25 with an 0-6 record in the Suncoast, the two sophomores on the teams, Bethany Bonville and Gabriella Valdez-Perez, have decided not to continue playing collegiately, while another two players were able to transfer and continue where they left off: Fatima Rajaee and Nikoleta Kandic.

Rajaee has transferred to Florida Memorial University (NAIA) as a sophomore with her remaining three years of eligibility. As a freshman for SCF, Rajaee, a defensive specialist from Orlando, finished with 239 digs and 16 aces with the Manatees. The Lions finished 11-15 overall with a 4-12 record in the Sun Conference.

Kandic transferred to another junior college, Indian Hills Community College. The native of Belgrade, Serbia, who plays as an outside hitter, had 274 kills, 17 aces and 47 blocks (12 solo) with the Manatees.

The Warriors finished last season 18-16 overall with a 3-1 record in conference play.

Softball:
Seven sophomores have graduated as well as freshman Kailey Christian transferring: Megan Seeds, Nicci Palumbo, Haley McFadden, Cheyenne Nunez, Kyria Holcomb, Madison Yoder and Sydney Parks.

Christian: Because of her high academic scores at the NJCAA level, Christian will be transferring to Delaware as a sophomore with three years of eligibility remaining. The Blue Hens finished last season 22-29 with a 7-11 record in the Colonial League, but did not make it to the postseason.

Known for throwing three types of riseballs, Christian finished her freshman campaign on the mound with 22-4 record, 2.19 ERA and 196 strikeouts while batting a team-leading .366 with a home run and 36 RBI. Christian was named a member of the All-Suncoast First Team, Suncoast All-Academic Team and the FCSAA All-State Second Team in the end.

Palumbo: Palumbo will be attending Florida Atlantic (FAU) but not for softball. With a knee injury plaguing a big part of the season, Palumbo still manage to finish her sophomore campaign with a .364 batting average and 11 RBI. Palumbo was named a member of the Suncoast All-Academic Team.

McFadden: McFadden will continue her softball career at Warner University (NAIA) with two years of eligibility remaining. The Lions are coming off of finishing last season 28-16 overall with a 12-12 record in the Sun Conference where they finished 2-2 in the Sun Conference Tournament

McFadden will join fellow redshirt senior and former Manatee Kayleigh Walters. She batted .313 with two home runs and 31 RBI while being named a member of the All-Suncoast Second Team.

Nunez: Nunez will continue her softball career at USC Upstate with two years of eligibility remaining. The Spartans finished 41-15 last season with a 18-6 record in the Big South before finishing 1-2 in the Big South Championship Tournament.

Nunez finished her sophomore campaign batting .360 with a home run, 27 RBI and 38 stolen bases, while joining Christian and Seeds on the All-Suncoast First Team. Nunez broke the single season record for most stolen bases on March 27.

Yoder: Yoder will be attending USF, but not for softball. Yoder batted .200 with four RBI while being named a member of the Suncoast All-Academic Team.

Tennis:
After finishing 6-7 overall with a 4-6 record in the Region 8 Conference, four sophomores have moved forward and graduated from the SCF tennis team: Sara Jamal, Camile Portalier, Laura Illanes-Rodriguez and Diarra Thomas. Freshman Zeba Jamal will also be transferring

Sara Jamal: Sara will be attending Presbyterian College in Clemson, South Carolina with two years of eligibility remaining. The Blue Hose finished last season 17-7 overall with a 7-2 record in the Big South before falling in the conference quarterfinals.

Jamal finished 8-9 in singles (#2 singles) and 8-10 in doubles (#1), primarily playing with now sophomore Sara Ramirez-Goncalves. Prior to SCF, Sara played for Southern Methodist where she recorded eight victories in doubles play and three wins in singles play.


Illanes-Rodriguez: Illanes-Rodriguez will join Nunez to represent SCF as she continues her collegiate tennis at USC Upstate with two years of eligibility remaining. The Spartans finished the season 4-19 overall with a 2-7 record in the Big South before falling in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

Illanes-Rodriguez finished her sophomore campaign 10-7 overall at #6 singles while being named the 2019 Vicki Schnurr Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Thomas: Primarily playing at #3 doubles, Thomas has decided to continue her tennis career at Coppin State in Baltimore. She will join the Eagles with two years of eligibility remaining. Coppin State finished 2-14 overall with a 1-4 record in the MEAC before falling in the first round of the MEAC Conference Tournament.

Predominantly playing with now sophomore Britain Botsford, Thomas was 10-8 in doubles, which included three combined wins at the FCSAA State Tournament (1) and the NJCAA National Tournament (2). Thomas was also 2-2 in singles action.

Zeba Jamal: Zeba will be attending Jacksonville State University in Alabama with three years of eligibility remaining. The Gamecocks finished last season with a 14-4 overall record and a 7-1 record in the Ohio Valley Conference where they fell in the semifinals of their conference tournament.

As a freshman at SCF, Zeba finished her career there with a 5-11 overall record in singles (#1 singles) and 13-8 in doubles with Portalier.

Portalier: Portalier will continue her playing career at the University of West Georgia (NCAA DII) with two years of eligibility. The Wolves finished last season with a 7-11 overall record with 2-9 record in the Gulf South Conference.

Portalier finished her sophomore campaign with a 7-10 overall record at #4 singles and a 13-8 record in doubles with Zeba Jamal. Portalier and Zeba Jamal claimed the NJCAA Flight 2 Consolation Doubles Championship.

Baseball:
After finishing 38-20 overall with a 20-11 record in the Suncoast, 15 sophomores have moved forward on their careers after graduating: Brian Dillingham, Shane Shifflett, Josh Bonynge, Josh Crouch, John Shields, Giovany Lorenzo, Corey Ireson, Bryce Hulett, Collin Moore, Cole Beavin, Hunter Perdue, Chris Holcomb, Brock Bell and Aaron Brown.

Dillingham: After finishing his redshirt sophomore campaign, Dillingham will be transferring to Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) with two years of eligibility remaining. The Blue Raiders finished last season with an 18-37 overall record and an 11-19 in Conference USA.

As a freshman, Dillingham finished with a .299 batting average with a home run and 16 RBI. After redshirting for the 2018 season due to injury, the Bradenton native and product of Braden River finished his sophomore campaign batting .332 with three home runs, 21 RBI and team-leading 23 stolen bases.


Shifflett: Shifflett will return to the SEC for his baseball career as he will be transferring to the University of South Carolina with two years of eligibility remaining. The Gamecocks finished last season 28-28 overall with an 8-22 record in the SEC. They did not make it to the postseason.

Prior to transferring to SCF, Shifflett began his collegiate baseball career at SEC foe Florida. There he batted .256 with seven RBI in 22 games. The Englewood native then decided to transfer to SCF where he batted .330 with five home runs and 23 RBI. As a result, he was named a member of the All-Suncoast First Team and the FCSAA All-State Second Team before signing with South Carolina.

Crouch: Crouch will be attending the University of Central Florida (UCF) with two years of eligibility remaining. The Knights finished their season 36-22 overall with an 11-13 record in the AAC. The Knights would fall in the semifinals of the AAC Tournament.

Playing all two years at SCF, Crouch finished his sophomore campaign batting .286 with five home runs and 25 RBI. Crouch was named a member of the All-Suncoast First Team twice.

Shields: Shields will continue his collegiate baseball career at Lipscomb University with two years of eligibility remaining. Lipscomb finished last season 30-25 overall with a 14-10 record in the A-SUN. They would be eliminated from the A-SUN Tournament after two losses.

Shields transferred mid-year from Alabama and began his freshman year at SCF where he batted .347 with a home run and 19 RBI, but by sophomore year, Shields' batting average dropped to .174 with a home run and eight RBI. Nevertheless, Shields was still named a member of the Suncoast All-Academic Team.

Lorenzo: Another player going to a rival school of FGCU, Lorenzo will be attending Stetson University with two years of eligibility remaining. The Hatters finished last season 27-32 overall with an 11-12 record in the A-SUN while hosting the A-SUN Tournament before falling to Liberty in the championship.

A native of Fort Myers, Lorenzo began his collegiate baseball career as a freshman at Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach. There he batted .246 with 21 RBI before transferring to SCF. As a sophomore, Lorenzo batted .319 with three home runs and 44 RBI. He was named a member of the All-Suncoast First Team.

Ireson: Ireson will be transferring to Florida Atlantic University (FAU) with two years of eligibility remaining. The Owls finished last season 41-21 overall with a 22-8 record in Conference USA. They would fall in the C-USA Championship to Southern Miss and were named runner-up as a result, however, they would make it to the NCAA National Tournament as an at-large bid while competing in the Athens Regional where they finished 1-2.

Ireson began his collegiate baseball career at Charleston Southern University where he went 0-2 with a 4.85 ERA and 14 strikeouts. After transferring to SCF, Ireson became an immediate force, going 8-2 with a 1.85 ERA and 91 strikeouts. Ireson was named a member of the All-Suncoast First Team and the FCSAA All-State Second Team.

Hulett: Hulett will continue on at the University of Pittsburgh with two years of eligibility remaining. The Panthers finished last season 21-34 overall with an 8-22 record in the ACC.

Hulett finished last season with a .244 batting average, three home runs and a team-leading 49 RBI.

Moore: A local product, Moore will continue his baseball career at Samford University in Birmingham. The Bulldogs finished last season 41-19 overall with a 19-5 record in the Southern Conference (SoCon) where they went 2-2 in the SoCon Tournament.

Moore finished his sophomore campaign batting .251 with four home runs and 31 RBI. As a result, Moore was named a member of the FCSAA All-Tournament Team.



Perdue: After two seasons with SCF, Perdue will be transferring to Florida State with two years of eligibility remaining. The Seminoles are coming off of a 42-23 record with a 17-13 record in the ACC. They would win the ACC Tournament and make it to the National Tournament where they won the Athens Regional in Athens, Georgia and the Baton Rouge Super Regional before falling the second round in the College World Series.

As a freshman, Perdue was 10-1 with a 3.97 ERA and 74 strikeouts. Last season, the native of Chesapeake, Virginia went 4-1 with a 2.38 ERA and 43 strikeouts before being shutdown after his game against South Florida State.

Holcomb: Another mid-transfer from Alabama, Holcomb will be transferring to Tulane with two years of eligibility remaining. Tulane finished last season 32-26 overall with a 12-11 record in the AAC before falling in the AAC Tournament.

After transferring from Alabama, Holcomb finished his sophomore campaign with a 2-3 record with one save, 2.08 ERA and 46 strikeouts.

Bell: Following the footsteps of his older brother, Bell was drafted to the Boston Red Sox in the seventh round (227th overall pick) in the MLB Draft. Bell finished his sophomore campaign 2-1 with a 2.77 ERA and 23 strikeouts. Brantley, Bell's older brother, was selected in the 11th round of the 2015 MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds and is currently playing for the Chattanooga Lookouts (Cincinnati's Double-A Team). Bell was the only Manatee to be drafted for 2019.

Brown: Brown has decided to continue his collegiate baseball career and will join Dillingham at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) with two years of eligibility remaining. Prior to SCF, Brown began his freshman year at Vanderbilt where he went 1-0 with a 5.93 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 11 games of relief. After transferring to SCF, Brown went 9-3 overall with a 3.79 ERA and 101 strikeouts. Brown joined Ireson, Shifflett, Dillingham and Lorenzo on the All-Suncoast First Team and joined Ireson on the FCSAA All-State Second Team.

I'm proud of everyone of these athletes and what they've done for SCF. Now the next wave comes in and it's sure going to be a good one.

FGCU WSOC vs FIU Preview

The FGCU women's soccer team will open up the 2019 season at home with a 7 p.m. match against FIU on Thursday, Aug. 22 at the FGCU Soccer Complex.

Last Time Out:
The Eagles finished last season 13-4-2 overall with a 5-3 record in the A-SUN before falling to Lipscomb in the semifinals of the A-SUN Tournament. Despite that, the Eagles did defeat three teams in the Power 5: Alabama (4-2), Ohio State (1-0) and Michigan (3-2).

Seniors Evdokia Popadinova and Melissa Weck lead the charge, after being named A-SUN Preseason Player of the Year and Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year, respectively. Classmates Lindsey Patton and Marjorie Boilesen joined the pair on the Preseason All-Conference team and are predicted to be top contributors for this year's squad.

Multiple Eagles enter the 2019 season having already secured spots in the Green and Blue record book. Weck begins her senior campaign with 198 career saves, good for third in program history, and needs 76 to tie the record after finish last season with 65. The keeper's miniscule goals-against average of 0.73 checks in at second on the all-time list.

Boilesen already sits at the top of the program with a career average of 0.47 assists per game, almost a full 0.10 ahead of second place. Her 18 career assists through just two seasons in Fort Myers are good for seventh.

In addition to the preseason recognition from the A-SUN, Popadinova has garnered national attention. The forward was named to the 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List and was recently ranked 35th among the nation's collegiate women's soccer players by TopDrawerSoccer.com. Last year, she paced the league in points (35), goals (14), points per game (1.84) and goals per game (0.74) en route to collecting Second Team All-American honors from the United Soccer Coaches Association. Patton joined Popadinova on the South All-Region first team, while Boilesen was selected to the Third Team.

Head coach Jim Blankenship's team is joined by seven newcomers in his 13th season at the helm. Lander Peck, Amanda Crisalli and Lilly Lakich all come from the state of Florida, while Alison Wessel and Kailyn Sheehan both traveled down to Fort Myers from Illinois. Emily McCue and Louise Lillback are furthest from home, hailing from Vancouver and Stockholm, respectively.

Scouting FIU:
The matchup against the Panthers marks the start of the Eagles' campaign for a seventh A-SUN Tournament title in the past 10 seasons.

FIU returns 17 players from last year's squad that went 0-17-1 with a 0-9-1 mark in C-USA play. The returnees will be joined by 14 newcomers, including nine freshmen and four transfers.

Two of the Panthers returners includes redshirt junior Ashley Adams and sophomore Rayquel Berry. Adams led the Panthers with five goals while Berry followed with four.

Sophomore Christina Velazquez also returns as the team's starting goalkeeper. Velazquez started all 18 matches with 109 saves while allowing 63 goals.

Series History:
FGCU has only dropped one game to FIU in the history between the two programs, which the Eagles lead 9-1-1. Aside from a tie in 2009, the only time the Panthers have bested the Green and Blue was a 1-0 win in Fort Myers during the 2010 season.

How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be available and will air livestream on YouTube. Fans can also keep up to date on Twitter.

FGCU: @FGCU_WSoccer
FIU: @FIUWSoccer

Promotions:
For the opening match, it will be dubbed as a green out, so marketing is encouraging fans to wear green to the game.

Livestats Link: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=267051

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWPlmFZxpc1KCiQx90Ei4hg/

FSW Volleyball on the Clock for Inaugural Season

Florida SouthWestern State College boasts four athletic programs that have been ranked top 20 in the National Junior College Athletic Association: men’s basketball (No. 1), women’s basketball (No. 17), baseball (No. 13) and softball (No. 1).

For the 2019-20 season, the Buccaneers are adding a new sport to their athletics program — one that’s garnered recent attention from local media outlets.

The FSW volleyball team, officially created in 2017, is closing in on its inaugural season opener. But first, there are multiple scrimmages at the College of Central Florida on Aug. 16 followed by an Aug. 19 home exhibition against fellow Southwest Florida program Ave Maria University.

This ground-breaking Buccaneers squad is comprised of 15 players — 13 freshmen and two sophomore transfers. Eleven of them hail from foreign countries — seven from Brazil, and one each from France, Germany, Bulgaria and Egypt — while the remaining four are from the United States.

MEET THE HEAD COACH
On July 6, 2018, FSW Athletics Director George Sanders selected Thais Baziquetto-Allen to lead this brand-new Bucs squad.

Baziquetto-Allen spent the previous three seasons as head coach at Seward County Community College in Liberal, Kansas. There, she guided the Lady Saints to three straight NJCAA Region VI championship appearances, winning back-to-back titles in 2016 and ’17.

“We are very excited to add Thais to the FSW Buccaneer athletics family,” Sanders said. “She was an outstanding player in the FCSAA (at St. Petersburg College) and is a proven coach in the NJCAA. We feel that FSW can provide her with the tools and assets to build a successful program from the start.”

A native of Guarulhos, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and wife of FSW Sports Information Director Roy Allen, Baziquetto-Allen comes from a true volleyball family.

“I have been playing volleyball since I was young,” she said. “Pretty much everyone in my family has played volleyball from a club and professional level.”

Before coming to the United States, Baziquetto-Allen played club level amateur volleyball in Brazil. She began her collegiate career at SPC as an outside hitter/right side and helped lead the Titans to a 26-9 record. After two years in St. Pete, Baziquetto-Allen transferred to NCAA Division II Western New Mexico University, where, as a senior, she was selected to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference All-Academic Team.

Immediately after her hiring last summer, Baziquetto-Allen said, “In short time, FSW Athletics has become a powerhouse at the NJCAA level and I look forward to continuing that with our volleyball program.”

MEET THE ASSISTANT COACH
Alex Soloid joined Baziquetto-Allen on July 9 after spending last season at Jefferson College in Missouri.

“I was excited to have Alex as part of our program,” Baziquetto-Allen said. “He has coached and played at the highest levels around the world and will bring a high volleyball IQ to the table for us. I look forward to working with Alex to put the best possible product on the floor for all of our amazing FSW fans.”

Born in Moscow, Russia, Soloid played professionally in nine different countries. He captured gold medals in the Argentinean Professional League and in the Cup of Russia.

After ending his 23-year playing career, Soloid began coaching in the pro circuit. He started with Club Dynamo in Russia’s Super League, guiding the team to a gold medal in the 2009 Super Cup of Russia. After two years with Club Dynamo, Soloid spent four years as head coach of the San Pedro Volleyball Club in Alcantara, Spain.

FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH
• Amy Barley, Soph., Libero/Defensive Specialist: An Alva native and Riverdale High School alum, Barley joins FSW after spending her freshman year at NCAA DII Shorter University in Georgia. Last season, she recorded 14 digs and two services aces in 17 matches.

• Marina Alonso, Soph., Setter: A native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Alonso spent her freshman year at Texas’ Laredo Community College, where she was second on the team in assists (244).

• Hannah Pabon, Freshman, Right Side/Outside Hitter: Another local product, Pabon graduated from Southwest Florida Christian Academy, where she posted 149 kills and 465 service aces as a three-year varsity player.

• Lexi Hurtado, Freshman, Outside Hitter: A native of Aurora, Colorado, Hurtado finished her high school career with 706 kills, 808 aces and 531 digs. She was an all-state honorable mention her senior year.

• Viktoria Ivanova, Freshman, Libero: A native of Sofia, Bulgaria, Ivanova was a member of the Bulgarian U19/U20 national team and the Levski Sofia volleyball club. She won a silver medal in the Bulgarian National Championship and competed in the first round of the 2017-18 CEV Women’s Challenge Cup in Luxembourg.

TOP FIVE MATCHES
• CCF Invitational (Aug. 23-24): The Buccaneers officially open their season in Ocala with this two-day event. They’ll face off with Pasco-Hernando State, Florida Gateway, Gulf Coast State College and host College of Central Florida.

• Palm Beach State and Eastern Florida State College (Sept. 3): FSW gets a tri-match with the Panthers and Titans to kick off its home schedule.

• FSCJ Tournament of Champions (Sept. 13-14): The Buccaneers will compete in their final tournament in Jacksonville. Other teams include Richard Bland College, Polk State, Eastern Florida State College and host Florida State College at Jacksonville.

• St. Petersburg College (Sept. 24): A home date against the defending regular-season champion awaits the Bucs as they begin their Suncoast Conference schedule.

• State College of Florida (Oct. 15): FSW closes out the regular season with a conference match against the Manatees. The Bucs will honor Barley and Alonso as part of the team’s inaugural Sophomore Night.