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.