SCF VB Welcomes FSW VB for First Ever Matchup

The SCF volleyball team (2-13, 0-2 Suncoast) returns home for their Suncoast home opener Tuesday night, October 1 at 6 pm at Hal Chasey Gymnasium. The Manatees welcome Florida Southwestern State (8-6, 0-2 Suncoast) for their first ever matchup in volleyball.

Last Time Out:
The Manatees opened Suncoast Conference play on the road as they faced #10 Hillsborough and #17 St. Pete. In both matches, the Manatees were shutout 3-0.

Key Manatees:
Offensively, the duo of sophomore Lakeesha Esseboom and freshman Leilani Wilcox-Nanai lead the team. Esseboom leads with 102 kills. In both conference matches, Esseboom had seven kills and eight digs.

Meanwhile Wilcox-Nanai follows with 90 kills while adding 120 digs (2nd on the team). The New Zealander had a total of eight kills and nine digs in both conference matches.

Freshman Gracee Carpino leads the team with 344 assists and 18 aces. Carpino had a combined 29 assists in both conference matches.

As far as defensively, along with Esseboom, sophomore Barbora Tichackova and Daviya Bernard and freshman Lisa Jaunet lead the team for blocking. Tichackova leads all her teammates with 45 blocks (12 solo) while Esseboom (23 blocks, seven solo), Bernard (23 blocks, six solo) and Jaunet (24 blocks, seven solo). Tichackova is also tied with Carpino with 18 aces while adding 46 kills, Bernard adds 73 kills and Jaunet adds 57 kills.

Meanwhile sophomore Sydney Jaco and freshman Brooke Henry take the reigns as the key defensive specialist. Jaco leads the Manatees with 284 digs while Henry has 111. Both had 10 digs each in the match against HCC.

Scouting FSW:
As noted, this is the inaugural season for the Buccaneers. They are coming off of also falling to HCC and SPC.

The team is led by first year head coach Thais Baziquetto-Allen. Baziquetto-Allen spent the last four seasons at Seward County Community College (NJCAA Region VI) with three of those years as head coach. She is joined by Alex Soloid as her assistant coach. The team consists of 11 freshman and two sophomores with more than half of the team hailing from Brazil.

Offensively, the freshman duo of Julia de Sa and Amanda Mendes lead the team with over 120 kills (de Sa: 127, Mendes: 122). de Sa is also second on the team in digs (103), while Mendes is third on the team in blocks (33, two solo) and second in aces (12). de Sa had 10 combined kills and 13 combined digs in their conference matches, while Mendes had 18 kills and two blocks.

Sophomore Marina Alonso leads with 334 assists. Alonso had 40 combined assists in both Suncoast matches.

Defensively, freshman Kianie Cummings leads the team with 54 blocks (10 solo) while adding 49 kills to her regime. Cummings had three kills and seven blocks (one solo) in both Suncoast matches.

Freshman Viktoria Ivanova leads the way with 153 digs and 17 aces. Ivanova had 20 digs against HCC.

How to Keep Up:
The match will air on livestream on the SCF Sports Network. Fans can keep up to date with both teams on Twitter:
SCF: @SCFVolleyball
FSW: @FSWBucs

Promos:
The promotion will be dubbed as Navy Blue Night. Fans and SCF Maniacs are encouraged to wear navy blue to the match. In addition, it will also be military appreciation night for the men and women that served and/or are active in all branches of the military. Admission is free for all members of any branch of the military.

Admission for the match is as noted:
General admission: $5
Children: $3
Student/Staff with SCF: Free

Livestream Link: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/scf/

SCF VB Falls in Suncoast Openers

The SCF volleyball team (2-13, 0-2 Suncoast) opened Suncoast Conference play on the road but were shutout 3-0 to #10 Hillsborough (17-3, 2-0 Suncoast) (22-25, 14-25, 14-25) and #17 St. Pete College (7-1, 2-0 Suncoast) (12-25, 9-25, 14-25). With both losses, the Manatees are now 5-15 against the Hawks and 7-13 against the Titans.

vs HCC:
Offensively against the Hawks, sophomore Lakeesha Esseboom and freshman Leilani Wilcox-Nanai led the team with five kills each. Esseboom added three digs, while Wilcox-Nanai added an ace and eight digs. Sophomore Barbora Tichakova and freshman Lisa Jaunet added four kills each with Tichakova adding two blocks (one solo). Freshman Gracee Carpino had 14 assists and one dig.

Defensively, sophomore Sydney Jaco and freshman Brooke Henry had 10 digs each. Jaco added an assist, while Henry added an ace and two assists.

Freshman Isabel Martin led the Hawks with 16 kills and seven digs, while classmate Zoe Konjer had 24 assists and four digs.

Defensively, sophomore Olivia Piazza had 13 digs to go with her eight kills while sophomore Caroline Molossi-Benke had 10 digs and three aces

vs SPC:
Against the Titans, freshman Jazmin Spencer led the team with four kills while Wilcox-Nanai, Tichakova and sophomore Daviya Bernard had three kills each. Wilcox-Nanai added a dig and an assist, Tichakova added one block and an ace and Bernard added two blocks.

Esseboom led the team defensively with five digs while adding two kills, while Jaco and sophomore Hannah Strickland added four digs each. Jaco also added one assist.

Sophomore Andressa Praise and freshman Petra Neciporuka had 10 kills each for the Titans. Praise added two solo blocks, while Neciporuka added four aces and three digs.

Defensively for the Titans, freshman Laura Ovelar led the way with four solo blocks while sophomore Kateryna Dashevska had seven digs.

With her 14 digs in both matches, Jaco now has 1,068 career digs.

Up Next:
The Manatees will return home for Suncoast play as they welcome FSW (8-6, 0-2 Suncoast) to Hal Chasey Gymnasium Tuesday night, October 1 at 6 pm.

FGCU VB vs Lipscomb Recap

Many milestones were made at the Alico Arena as the FGCU volleyball team (12-3, 2-1 A-SUN) shutout Lipscomb (4-8, 1-1 A-SUN) 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-19). With the win, the Eagles are now 10-16 against the Bison.

"I was really happy with our overall play," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "I thought we blocked really well. I thought the floor defense, the way it was connected to the block, I thought we were getting some success in opportunities in transition. I'm really happy with (our play), especially the way sets ended for us. I thought we did a really good job at the end closing things out."

It was junior Cortney VanLiew that started the milestones as she got her 1,000th career kill for the first Eagle point in the opening set and became the fourth Eagle in program history to reach 1,000 career kills (Redshirt senior Amanda Carroll, Brooke Youngquist-Sweat and Olivia Mesner are the other three). VanLiew would finish with 22 kills, one ace, six digs and three blocks. With her 22 kills, the native of Seymour, Indiana now has 1,021 career kills and is 112 shy of passing Mesner (1,132, 2010-14) for third all-time. VanLiew also added six digs and three blocks.

"Cortney is amazing," Botsford said. "There's a bunch of superlatives you could use, but outside of the obvious statistical things that she does that doesn't show up is just what an amazing person she is. That's part of her success. She's hard working, diligent and wants to get better. She spent the last few days diving into film and trying to figure out how she can improve in her attacking and passing. That's really what sets her apart, and that's why the success comes to her."

Sophomore Chelsea Lockey added 35 assists to go with her two blocks and five digs. With her 35 assists, Lockey now has 1,045 career assists and remains 45 shy of surpassing Camil Dominguez (1,089, 2010-11) for sixth all-time.

Sophomore Dana Axner finished with 15 digs and three assists. Axner's 15 digs put her at 885 in her career as she surpassed Karissa Rhoades (877, 2015-18) and Heather Van Olst (884, 2004-06) for eighth all-time. Her next milestone is Gigi Meyer (947, 2011-14) for the seventh all-time. Meanwhile, her three assists put her at 176 in her career as she passed Courtney Stephens (175, 2014-17) for 12th all-time. Next up will be Holly Youngquist (238, 2008-11) for seventh all-time.

Senior Daniele Serrano finished with six kills and six blocks (one solo). Her six kills put her at 711 and needs 20 to pass Jill Hopper (725, 2011-13) for eighth all-time. Serrano's six total blocks put her 412 as she surpassed Jacksonville's Danielle Neville (408.0., 2002-05) for fourth all-time and will look to surpass Campbell's Rachel Templin (422.0, 2003-06) for third all-time. Her one solo block put her at 61 in her career and need two to pass Mesner (62, 2010-14) as the all-time leader in career solo blocks.

In the opening set, neither team led by more than two until the Eagles reeled off three straight to take a 12-8 lead. A pair of kills from freshman Erin Shomaker helped elevate the lead to seven, and a service ace from Carroll made it 23-12. Despite three straight from Lipscomb, VanLiew finished off the set with her eighth kill of the match - while hitting .636.

In the second frame, Lockey had 13 assists as FGCU opened the set with six of the first nine points. Lipscomb, though, responded to take an 11-9 lead, which forced a timeout, and the Eagles answered with a run of their own by reeling off six of the next eight to take a 15-13 lead.

The Bison took the lead once again, at 17-16, but a 5-1 run capped by a kill from Shomaker made it 21-18 before VanLiew finished off the set once again with a kill moments later.

Lipscomb held three leads in the third set, including a 14-13 advantage, but FGCU scored eight of the next nine points to seize control of the set. During that run, VanLiew had a pair of kills, while Serrano had a kill and two block assists. Giovanna Borgiotti and Morris then finished off the match with back-to-back kills. Borgiotti's lone kill put her at 534 in her career and remains 39 shy of passing Leigh Pudwill (572, 2015-16) for 15th all-time.

Next Up:
FGCU will continue A-SUN play on the road this coming weekend with matchups against North Florida on Friday at 7 p.m. and Stetson on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Notes:
Botsford earned his 128th career win as head coach for the Eagles and his 369th overall win as a coach in the NCAA.

Longtime assistant coach Daniel Mahy and second year assistant coach Stephanie Zelinski also earned big wins on their coaching record. Mahy earned his 306th overall win as a coach in the NCAA (279th with FGCU), while Zelinski earned her 67th.

Despite not getting any kills, Burnam finished with four digs and two blocks. Burnam's four digs put her at 467 (20th all-time) and needs 10 to pass Ana Kokanovic (476, 2007-08) for 19th all-time

FGCU VB vs UNA Recap

The FGCU volleyball team (11-3, 1-1 A-SUN) bounced back from their loss in A-SUN play as they shutout North Alabama (2-12, 0-1 A-SUN) 3-0 (25-11, 25-9, 25-14) at the Alico Arena. With the win, the Eagles are now 3-0 against the Lions.

"I thought the story tonight was the serve and pass game," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "Our passers did an excellent job, and that really kicked off the offense. The offensive numbers were good. We limited the errors we were making and the ones that we did make were good, solid errors trying to be aggressive."

Junior Cortney VanLiew totaled 16 kills over 20 attempts with just one error. Not only did her kill output match North Alabama's entire team combined, but her .750 attack percentage was the best in the program's Division I era (2007-present) among players with at least 20 attempts.

Additionally, VanLiew now sits at 999 career kills, which puts her just one shy of becoming just the fourth player in program history with at least 1,000 - joining Amanda Carroll (1,424), Brooke Youngquist Sweat (1,173) and Olivia Mesner (1,132).

"I haven't really been keeping track (of how close I am to the record)," VanLiew said. "People just keep telling me how close I am. It would be an awesome milestone to accomplish, and I know that I'll be in good company with those other three players."

Maybe the most impressive thing about VanLiew's night was that she played just two sets. She had nine kills in the opening frame at a .615 clip and then hammered home seven more over seven attempts in the second.

As a team, FGCU scored the first five points of the match and led 14-3 following back-to-back kills from Erin Shomaker and Daniele Serrano. A kill from Aja Jones pushed the lead to 22-7 before VanLiew scored the final three points of the set for the Green and Blue via kills.

An 11-0 run midway through the second set allowed the Eagles to take an 18-3 lead, with the run being capped by a Giovanna Borgiotti kill. Despite North Alabama splitting the next 12 points with FGCU, Snowy Burnam smacked home a right-side kill for a two-set lead.

The visiting Lions scored the first three points of the third set, but the Green and Blue scored nine of the next 12 points en route to finishing off the sweep.

Outside of VanLiew, Shomaker added seven kills at a .417 clip, while Burnam had six and Jones had five. Chelsey Lockey had 37 of the team's 46 assists, while Dana Axner chipped in three.

Meanwhile, Axner had a match-high 15 digs. Amanda Carroll added seven, and Burnam had six. At the net, Tori Morris had the team's lone solo block, while Jones (4) and Burnam (3) combined for seven of the 12 block assists.

Notes:
The previous single-match hitting percentage record was held by Jacqueline Cowden (.731), which was set on Sept. 26, 2009 vs North Florida, and VanLiew's percentage fell just short of the overall mark of .762 set by Ericka Fonseca against LIU Post (FGCU was a Division II program from 2004-06).

Axner is now eight digs shy of surpassing Karissa Rhoades (877, 2015-18) for sixth-place on the program's Division I era career digs list.

Friday night's match represented the first time in Carroll's career that she did not record a single attack attempt.

With her assist output, Lockey became the seventh player in program history to reach 1,000 in a career. She now sits at 1,010 and is 80 shy of surpassing Camil Dominguez (1,089, 2010-11) for sixth all-time.

Serrano's four kills put her at 705 in her career and needs 26 to pass Jill Hopper (725, 2011-13) for eighth all-time. Her one block put her at 406 in her career and needs three more to surpass Jacksonville's Danielle Neville (408.0., 2002-05) for fourth all-time. Serrano remains second all-time in career solo blocks (60) and needs three to pass Olivia Mesner (62, 2011-14) as the all-time leader in solo blocks.

Borgiotti and Burnam remain neck and neck in career kills. Borgiotti finished with three kills, which puts her at 533 while Burnam finished with six kills putting her at 531. Both are battling to pass Leigh Pudwill (572, 2015-16) for 15th all-time.

Longtime assistant coach Daniel Mahy earned his 305th career win (278th with FGCU) while second year assistant coach Stephanie Zelinski earned her 66th.

Up Next:
The Eagles remain at home as they welcome Lipscomb Sunday at 2 p.m. in Alico

FGCU WSOC vs UNA Recap

The FGCU women's soccer team (6-3-0, 1-0-0 A-SUN) picked up its first A-SUN Conference win of the season, handing North Alabama (4-6-0, 0-1-0 A-SUN) a 3-1 loss Thursday night at the Bill Jones Athletic Complex. Freshman Louise Lillback finished the night with two goals and an assist, marking her best performance as an Eagle so far.

"Tonight, we had a great second half and I was happy to see that the players responded to what we talked about at halftime," head coach Jim Blankenship said. "I'm really pleased with our overall effort and the result we were able to get. Getting points on the road is always a good thing and we look at this win as one down, a lot to go."

Though the teams went into the break scoreless, FGCU outplayed the Lions in the opening 45 minutes. Senior Evdokia Popadinova took her first shot of the night just three minutes into the first half as the Eagles' offense immediately put the pressure on North Alabama's back line. Popadinova and sophomore Ashlee Brentlinger each tallied shots on-frame that were narrowly saved by the Lions' keeper. FGCU outshot North Alabama 6-2 before halftime.

The Eagles were able to get past the Lions' goalie in the second half as Lillback put the team on the board in the 52nd minute. Brentlinger and redshirt-junior Megan Young assisted on the shot that gave FGCU its initial lead. Less than two minutes later, Popadinova found the back of the net from almost 30 yards out after collecting a pass from Lillback, notching her fifth goal of the season and putting the team up 2-0. Aside from her fifth goal of the season, Popadinova now has

North Alabama's Shelby Wall chipped away at the Green and Blue lead in the 58th minute with a shot that she snuck by senior Melissa Weck. Lillback responded with her second goal of the night, knocking in a pass from sophomore Kara Kyramarios that re-extended the team's lead to 3-1. The shot marked Lillback's first multi-goal game of her career.

The Lions made another attempt on Weck (7-3), but the keeper made her second and final save of the night as the Eagles held on to their win.

The victory over the Lions marks FGCU's first road win of the season and the team's three goals are the most they've scored in a single game this year.

Up Next:
The Eagles will continue the road swing with a match against reigning A-SUN champ Lipscomb on Sunday, Sept. 29. Kick off against the Bison is slated for 2 p.m. at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex. It will be the 17th meeting in the history between the two programs, which FGCU leads 10-3-3.

FGCU VB @ Liberty Recap

Despite a match-high 24 digs from Dana Axner, the FGCU volleyball team (10-3, 0-1) lost its conference opener to Liberty (8-5, 1-0) 25-22, 25-23, 25-22 on the road in the Vines Center on Tuesday night.

"Liberty did a great job at the net with their blocking and really disrupted our hitters from the start," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "I'm disappointed that we weren't able to extend the match when there were multiple opportunities to do so, but we just could never string points together. Offensively, we had no rhythm and that is as high error as I've seen this team play. We have a lot of work ahead of us and have to expect to be pushed like this within conference in each match we play."

Liberty's blocking provided fits for the Eagles as FGCU's offense was held to a .048 hitting percentage while the Flames totaled 24 blocks (one solo). It was the first time the Eagles have been swept in conference play since Sept. 29, 2017 against Kennesaw State.

In the opening set, neither team led by more than three in a back-and-forth set that saw the teams knotted at 20 apiece. Liberty, however, scored four straight and held off back-to-back points from the Eagles to take the early lead.

Daniele Serrano slammed home a kill in the second set to give FGCU a 20-16 lead after they fell down 4-0 to begin the set. Liberty then scored four consecutive points to knot things at 20. A short time later, FGCU saw a replay reverse a potential kill that would have given them a 23-21 lead. Instead, Giovanna Borgiotti's kill on the next point only made it 23-22 instead of 24-21.  The Flames responded with the next three points to take a two-set lead.

Cortney VanLiew tapped home an errant pass to give FGCU a 22-21 lead in the third set, but Liberty called a timeout and responded with four straight points to close the match.

VanLiew had a team-high 12 kills, while Borgiotti added seven off the bench. Chelsey Lockey fell one dig shy of a double-double while totaling 27 assists, nine digs and three block assists.

Axner added two assists in addition to her 24 digs, while the trio of Serrano, Aja Jones and Lockey tied for the team-high in blocks with three apiece.

Up Next:
FGCU will be back in action this weekend with home matches against North Alabama on Friday at 7 p.m. and Lipscomb on Sunday at 2 p.m. Fans are encouraged to wear blue on Friday and can enjoy free pizza post-match while it lasts. Sunday's match will be a white out.

Notes:
Axner's 24 digs represents the third most in a three-set A-SUN regular season match in program history - just behind Holly Youngquist's 26 against Campbell on Oct. 8, 2010 and her own total of 28 against Stetson on Oct. 10 of last year. Furthermore, she now has 322 career digs in conference play alone, which places her 10th on the program's career list. In overall career digs, Axner has 855 career digs and needs 23 to surpass Karissa Rhoades (877, 2015-18) for ninth all-time.

VanLiew's 12 kills put her at 983 and remains 17 shy of becoming the fourth Eagle in program history to reach 1,000 career kills.

With her two kills, Serrano became the 10th Eagles to reach 700 career kills and tied Jill Hopper (700, 2011-13) for ninth all-time.

Borgiotti's seven kills put her at 530 in her career and remains 43 shy of passing Leigh Pudwill (572, 2015-16) for 15th all-time.

Burnam's three kills put her at 525 in her career and remains 48 shy of passing Pudwill.

FGCU VB @ Liberty Preview

The FGCU Volleyball team (10-2) will remain on the road as they travel to Lynchburg, Virginia to face Liberty (7-5) at the Vines Center Tuesday Night at 6 pm.

Last Time Out:
The Eagles are coming off of competing in the Sunshine State Classic this past weekend where they shutout Power 5 Miami and defeated UCF 3-1 before shutting out FAU to go 3-0. The win over Miami was the Eagles' second win against a Power 5 school this season having previously shutting out Auburn.

What It Do VanLiew:
The main leader on offense is junior Cortney VanLiew. VanLiew leads the team with 181 kills and tied for second in aces (11). VanLiew finished the Sunshine State Classic with 46 kills, 24 digs and two aces while being named a member of the Sunshine State All-Classic Team as well as the team MVP. In addition, VanLiew was recently named Co-A-SUN Player of the Week with Kennesaw State's Quin Sutphin.

Meanwhile in her career, VanLiew has 971 career kills in her name and needs 29 to become the fourth Eagles in program history to reach 1,000 career kills.

Hot and Spicy:
Senior Daniele Serrano has made history on several occasions both offensively and defensively. Serrano has 85 kills in her name while adding 39 blocks (six solo) too. At the Sunshine State Classic, Serrano 24 combined kills along with 12 blocks (two solo). Her 24 kills put her at 699 and one to become the 10th Eagle to reach 700 career kills and two to pass Jill Hopper (700, 2011-13) for ninth all-time.

Meanwhile with her blocking, Serrano earned her 400th career block against FAU and became the first Eagle to reach 400 career blocks and now has 402 in her career. Furthermore, Serrano moved into fifth place in A-SUN history as she surpassed Stetson's Ellen Hawks (400, 2010-13) and is on task to surpass Jacksonville's Danielle Neville (408.0., 2002-05) for fourth all-time. In addition, her two solo blocks put her at 60 in her careerand need three to pass Olivia Mesner (62, 2011-14) as the all-time leader in solo blocks.

Sharpen the Ax:
Sophomore Dana Axner was named a member of the Sunshine State All-Classic Team after her success result. Axner finished the classic with 55 digs and three aces. Currently, she has 207 digs (4.93 digs per set) while being named A-SUN Defensive Player of the Week. In her career so far, the native of Dublin, Ohio currently has 831 career digs after passing Maggie Rick (823, 2015-18) for 10th and needs 47 to surpass Karissa Rhoades (877, 2015-18) for ninth all-time.

The 500 Club:
Recently this season, two Eagles have made it to the 500 career kills club, senior Giovanna Borgiotti and junior Snowy Burnam. Borgiotti currently has 28 kills in her name while Burnam has 76 (4th on the team).

Borgiotti became the 16th Eagle to reach 500 after reaching the milestone against San Diego State at the Homewood Suites Fort Myers Classic and has 523 in her career. Burnam became the 17th Eagles to 500 after earning it in the match against Miami at the Sunshine State Classic and has 522 in her career.

Both Borgiotti and Burnam are on path to pass Leigh Pudwill (572, 2015-16) for 15th all-time, while being two of five current members with at least 500 kills (VanLiew, Serrano and redshirt senior Amanda Carroll).

Scouting Liberty:
The Lady Flames posted a 2-1 record at the Gators Invitational last weekend, picking up back-to-back five-set wins over Louisiana and 2018 Big Sky champion Northern Arizona. Florida transfer Macy Phillips, playing at her old home court, was named to the all-tournament team. Phillips ranks fourth in the A-SUN with 4.44 digs per set.

Senior middle blocker Anna Gragg, a three-time all-conference performer, is second in the A-SUN in both attack percentage (.389) and blocks per set (1.18).

Redshirt junior Amelia Johnson is third in the A-SUN with 3.67 kills per set. She had a career-high 19 kills against Virginia Tech on Sept. 7 and matched that total with 19 kills against Louisiana last Friday. She leads the team with 10 double-digit kill matches and four double-doubles (tied).

Senior right-side hitter Casey Goodwin, a two-time all-conference selection, was a first team All-A-SUN pick last year when she led the A-SUN with 40 aces. She needs 38 more kills to become Liberty's 16th player all-time with 1,000 or more career kills.

Senior setter Hannah Morris ranks fourth in the A-SUN with 9.81 assists per set. Her career-high 53 assists against Louisiana were the most by a Flame since Amaya Williams' 59 against Presbyterian in 2017.

Series History:
The Eagles hold a 3-0 record against the Lady Flames. The Eagles pulled out a thrilling, five-set victory on the road in the first meeting of 2018 and the teams met in the A-SUN semifinals.

How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be available and will air on ESPN+. Fans can also keep updated on both teams via Twitter:

FGCU- @FGCU_VB
Liberty- @LibertyWVB

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.

Livestats Link: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=264272&vislive=fguu
ESPN+ Link: https://www.espn.com/watch?id=e15e5af0-9aad-4d15-b8f6-565efe638e2c

FGCU MSOC @ FAU; UNF Preview

 The FGCU men's soccer team will travel across Alligator Alley Wednesday night for a showdown against FAU before starting A-SUN play at UNF Saturday night.

The Green and Blue:
FGCU returns to action after dropping a 4-1 decision to No. 13 UCF last Wednesday night. Ryan Medilah leads the Eagles in goals (three), and points (seven). Ivan Rosales has netted a pair of goals while Shak Adams (Antioch, Tenn./Cane Ridge HS) tallied his first goal of the season versus UCF to move him into sole possession for second place all-time on the FGCU record book.

In net, keeper Gustavo Vasconcelos (3-3-1) has started all seven contests, securing 31 saves (1.80 GAA), and one clean sheet.

Scouting the Owls:
FAU is 2-3-0 this season, most recently falling to No. 21 Kentucky on the road, 3-0. Ivan Mykhailenko leads the Owl's attack with two goals and one assist for five points. Andres Macias has dished out a team-best two assists. Daniel Ragoo and Haygay Jalon have split time in net as each have recorded a win.

In the all-time meetings, FGCU holds a 5-4-1 edge over FAU. Last year's contest in the Nest was cancelled due to lightning.

Scouting the Ospreys:
Overall this season, UNF is 2-2-1 and are coming off a 1-0 win over Liberty to start A-SUN play last Saturday night. Jake Hawker has bagged two goals so far to lead the offense while three other Ospreys have recorded one assist. In net, Padraic Gilley has logged just over 360 minutes in four starts collecting four saves.

FGCU leads the all-time series 10-2-2 and have outscored UNF 7-0 in its last two games.

SCF VB Opens Suncoast Play On the Road

The SCF volleyball team (2-11) will begin Suncoast Conference play on the road as they take on #10 Hillsborough CC (14-2) at the Dale Mabry Campus in Tampa Tuesday night, September 24 before facing #17 St. Pete College (5-1) at the St. Petersburg/Gibbs Campus Gymnasium Thursday night, September 26. Both matches are scheduled to start at 6 pm.

Last Time Out:
The Manatees are coming off of competing in two FCSAA Crossover matches where they were shutout by Broward and Miami Dade College. The two matches were the last two matches before Suncoast Play.

Key Players:
Offensively for the Manatees, sophomore Lakeesha Esseboom and freshman Leilani Wilcox-Nanai lead the way. Esseboom leads the team with 99 kills and is third in total blocks (22, six solo) while Wilcox-Nanai follows Esseboom with 82 kills and is second in digs (111). Esseboom had 13 kills and five blocks in the crossover matches while six kills and 13 digs.

Freshman Gracee Carpino leads the team with 315 assists and 18 aces. Carpino had 25 combined assists in the crossover matches.

Defensively, along with Esseboom, sophomore Barbora Tichackova and Daviya Bernard and freshman Lisa Jaunet hold the anchor in blocks. Tichackova leads the team with 42 blocks (10 solo) and 39 kills while Bernard is third on the team in kills (67) and fourth in blocks (21, five solo) and Jaunet has 53 kills (4th on the team) and is second in blocks (23, seven solo). Tichakova had five kills and nine blocks, Bernard had 14 kills and three blocks and Jaunet had nine kills and four blocks last times out.

Sophomore Sydney Jaco has 270 digs in her name (5.63 digs per set). Jaco had 33 combined digs in the crossover matches. In her career, Jaco has 1,054 digs.

Scouting HCC:
The Hawks are ranked #5 in the FCSAA Coaches Poll and #11 in the NJCAA National Poll. In their last outing, the Hawks are coming off of defeating Palm Beach State (3-1) and Indian River State (3-2) in their crossover matches.

Offensively, freshman Isabel Martin leads the team with 213 kills and 17 aces while going second in digs (136). In her crossover matches, Martin had a combined 33 kills and 27 digs. In fact, Martin has produced a double-double in four straight matches.

The Hawks will likely use a double setter formation with freshman Zoe Konjer and sophomore Mariana Volponi e Giordan. Konjer and Volponi e Giordan have produced a combined 578 assists (Konjer: 227,  Volponi e Giordan: 351). In their last outings, Konjer had 40 combined assists while Volponi e Giordan had 56.

Defensively, freshman middle blocker Nadine Burbrink and sophomore libero Caroline Molossi-Benke play key roles.

Burbrink leads the team with 56 blocks (14 solo) to go along with 87 kills (3rd on the team) and 12 aces (2nd on the team). Burbrink had 17 kills and 10 blocks in her last outings.

Following the pedigree and footsteps of her older sister and FGCU alum Vanessa Benke, Molossi-Benke leads the team with 253 digs and 11 aces (third on the team). In her last two matches, the product out of Toledo, Brazil had 46 digs and two aces, which include a career-high 30 digs against IRS.

Scouting SPC:
The Titans are ranked #4 in the FCSAA Coaches Poll and #17 in the NJCAA National Poll despite having played only six matches out of their 10 scheduled this season. The four matches they were scheduled to play in were cancelled due to the possibility of Hurricane Dorian hitting Florida. They recently played in their crossover matches against Indian River State and Palm Beach State winning both matches by a score of 3-1.

The Titans will play Florida Southwestern Tuesday night in Fort Myers at 6 pm.

The sophomore duo of Andressa Praise and Roberta Ribeiro lead the Titans offensively. Praise leads the team with 77 kills while Ribiero has 75. In their crossover matches, Praise had a combined 26 kills while Ribiero had 24 kills.

Defensively, Praise lead the team with 23 blocks (14 solo) while classmate Kateryna Dashevska has a team-leading 64 digs and 13 aces (2nd on the team). Dashevska had a combined 21 digs and six aces in the crossover matches.

Series History (2012-present):
Against both teams, the Manatees are 5-14 against the Hawks while against the Titans they are 7-12.

Last season, the Manatees fell to the Hawks and the Titans three times. Their last win over both teams was on October 3, 2017 (3-0 @ HCC) and October 27, 2014 (3-0 @ SPC).

How to Keep Up:
Fans can keep up with all three teams on Twitter:
SCF: @SCFVolleyball
HCC: @vb_hawks
SPC: @spcnews

SCF VB Struggles in Crossover Match @ MDC and Broward

The SCF volleyball team (2-11) struggled in their FCSAA crossover matches as they were shutout 3-0 by Broward College (8-3) (16-25, 18-25, 29-31) and Miami Dade (13-2) (12-25, 17-25, 21-25). With the losses, the Manatees are 2-15 against the Sharks and 1-4 against the Seahawks.

@ Broward:
Offensively, it was the sophomore duo of Lakeesha Esseboom and Daviya Bernard that led the Manatees offensively as they finished with seven kills each. Esseboom also added five digs and two blocks while Bernard added two digs and three blocks (one solo). Sophomore Hannah Strickland and freshman Gracee Carpino had double digit assists (Strickland: 12 assists; Carpino: 11 assists). Strickland added four digs, while Carpino added six digs.

Freshman Lisa Jaunet followed Esseboom and Bernard with six kills and four blocks (one solo), while sophomore Barbora Tichackova and freshman Leilani Wilcox-Nanai had four kills each. Tichackova added five blocks, one ace and seven digs while Wilcox-Nanai added six digs.

Sophomore Sydney Jaco finished with 15 digs and three assists.

@MDC:
Bernard would lead the Manatees offensively with seven kills, while Esseboom followed with six kills and three blocks and freshman Jazmin Spencer added five kills. Freshman Gracee Carpino had 14 assists and four digs.

Defensively, Tichackova had four blocks to go with one kill while Jaco added 18 digs and one assist. Jaco's 33 combined digs put her at 1,054 in her career.

Other Suncoast Scores:
#11 HCC (14-2) defeated Palm Beach State (3-1) and Indian River State (3-2) in their crossover matches.

RV St. Pete College (5-1) defeated IRS and PBSC both by a score of 3-1.

Florida Southwestern (8-4) split their crossover matches as they were shutout by MDC before winning 3-2 over Broward.

Up Next:
The Manatees remain on the road as they prepare to open Suncoast Conference play. They will travel to Tampa to face #11 HCC Tuesday night at 6 pm before traveling to St. Pete to face RV SPC Thursday night (9/26) at 6 pm.

SCF VB Sets for Crossover Match @ Broward; Miami Dade

The SCF volleyball team (2-9) return on the road for the weekend for an FCSAA crossover match as they travel to face Broward College (7-3) at the George E. Mayer Gymnasium in Davie, Florida Friday, September 20 at 6 pm before traveling to Miami to take on Miami Dade College (11-2) at the Gibson Center Gymnasium Saturday, September 21 at noon. The two matches will be the first of the two crossover matches.

Last Time Out:
The Manatees are coming off of a hard fought loss to Daytona State at home losing 3-1.

Sophomore Lakeesha Esseboom (86 kills) and freshman Leilani Wilcox-Nanai (76 kills) lead the way offensively for the Manatees while sophomores Sydney Jaco (237 digs) and Barbora Tichackova (38 kills, 14 aces and 33 blocks) lead the way defensively. Sophomore Daviya Bernard (53 kills and 16 blocks) and freshmen Lisa Jaunet (44 kills 19 blocks) and Brooke Henry (98 digs and six aces) also play key roles on both sides of the court.

Scouting Broward:
The Seahawks are coming off of competing in the PBSC Tournament where they fell 3-1 to Polk State College before opening Southern Conference play with a 3-0 win over Indian River State.

Sophomore Raytchelle Miranda leads the team with 113 kills and 25 blocks while classmate Mia Thomas has 323 assists.

Defensively, the freshman duo of Kawana Jeronimo and Yasmin Figueirdo have a combined 80 total blocks (Jeronimo: 35 blocks (17 solo); Figueirdo: 45 (23 solo)) while classmate Bruna Torres has 161 digs in her name.

Scouting Miami Dade:
The Sharks are coming off of opening conference play (Southern Conference) after shutting out Palm Beach State 3-0. Prior to conference play, the Sharks competed in the College of Southern Nevada Tournament/Coyote Volleyball Invitational where they went 3-1 splitting day one with a 3-1 loss to Seward County Community College and a 3-0 shutout win over Central Wyoming College before defeating Salt Lake Community College 3-1 and a 3-0 shutout win over Arizona Western College on day two. They will Florida Southwestern at home prior to hosting SCF.

Sophomores Yaniris Miller-Green and Scherine Dahoue lead the Sharks in triple digit kills (Miller-Green: 182; Dahoue: 167). Dahoue also leads the team with 20 aces and adding 153 digs while Miller-Green has 29 blocks (2nd on the team). Against PBSC, Miller-Green had 10 kills and three blocks (one solo) Dahoue had six kills and four aces.

Defensively, sophomore Vanda Zimova leads the team with 32 blocks to go with her 56 kills while freshman Paola Pimentel leads the team with 254 digs (18th in the nation). Against PBSC, Zimova had five kills and a block while Pimentel had 17 digs.

Series History (2012-present):
Overall, the Manatees are 2-14 against the Sharks and 1-3 against the Seahawks. The Manatees faced the Seahawks twice this season losing 3-1 in the first match (9/4) and 3-0 in match two (9/6). The Manatees lone win over the Seahawks was on September 21, 2012 where they won 3-0 at Hal Chasey Gymnasium.

Last time SCF faced MDC was on October 13, 2018 at Hal Chasey Gymnasium where the Sharks shutout the Manatees 3-0. The Manatees' last win over the Sharks was on October 3, 2014 where they won 3-0 at Hal Chasey Gymnasium.

SCF VB Strong Falls Short vs Daytona State

The SCF volleyball team (2-9) played a hard fought fourth set against Daytona State College (8-2), but it was not enough as the Manatees fell 3-1 (16-25, 25-21, 10-25, 24-26). With the loss, SCF is 2-14 against the Falcons.

"I am extremely proud of them," said interim head coach Lynn Burnett. "We came in with a game plan and knew what we need to execute to come in and still learning to work as a team. We do got some young players that are learning their roles and as a whole, the team is still learning how to own their roles together and they did a phenomenal job tonight and we saw it."*

"It was reflecting in the games for sure and I could tell you there's not one single player that would stand out to me that stood out tonight because they fought back from a deficit and hung in there with an extremely tough team point for point and did what they needed to do together."

Offensively, it was freshman Lisa Jaunet and sophomore Lakeesha Esseboom that led the team offensively. Jaunet and Esseboom finished with eight kills each with Jaunet adding a three digs and a block, while Esseboom added two digs. Freshman Leilani Wilcox-Nanai followed with four kills and seven digs, while classmate Gracee Carpino had 16 assists and five digs.

Defensively, sophomore Barbora Tichackova and freshman Bailey Sikkema finished with five blocks each (both with one solo block). Tichackova add two aces and five digs, while Sikkema added three kills and two digs.

Sophomore Sydney Jaco finished with 20 digs and two assists. Jaco's 20 digs put her at 1,021 in her career.

Other Suncoast Scores:
^RV St. Pete College (3-1) split their two home matches falling 3-2 to Polk State (9/12) before shutting out Santa Fe (9/17) 3-0. The Titans will play in an FCSAA Crossover Match on the road facing Indian River State (9/20) in Fort Pierce and will follow traveling to West Palm Beach to take on Palm Beach State (9/21).

^After upsetting #15 College of Central Florida (CCF), Florida Southwestern (7-3) competed in the two-day FSC Jacksonville Tournament where they defeated host Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) 3-1, shutout Eastern Florida State 3-0 and defeated Richard Bland (NJCAA Region 10) 3-1. The Buccaneers will play in the FCSAA Crossover traveling to Miami to face Miami Dade College (9/20) before traveling to Davie to face Broward College (9/21).

^#11 Hillsborough (12-1) joined FSW in the two-day FSC Jacksonville Tournament and shutout Eastern Florida State, Richard Bland and host FSCJ by a score of 3-0. They will be on the road for the next three matches as they travel to Winter Park to face former Suncoast Conference member Polk State (9/19) before competing in the FCSAA Crossover match as they travel to West Palm Beach to take on Palm Beach State (9/20) and then Fort Pierce to take on Indian River State (9/20).

Up Next:
The Manatees will be on the road for the next two non-conference matches for the weekend as they travel to Davie to face Broward College (5-3) on Friday, September 20 at 6 pm before traveling to Miami to take on Miami Dade College (10-2) Saturday, September 21 at noon for the FCSAA Crossover match.

*side note: This is the first interview done with interim head coach Burnett.

^All four teams will play in the next two to three matches as crossover matches before beginning Suncoast Conference play.

FGCU WSOC vs Marshall Recap

Senior Evdokia Popadinova scored both of FGCU's goals as the Eagles (5-3-0) handed Marshall (2-7-0) a 2-0 loss Sunday afternoon at the FGCU Soccer Complex. The win marks FGCU's third in a row as the team closed out its non-conference slate.

"Today was a shutout, a win and an overall great result," said head coach Jim Blankenship, who recently surpassed 400 career wins. "Now, we get to focus on starting conference play. I'm pleased with the way we've played so far. We had a tough, demanding schedule but we've earned some good results. I'm proud of the players and I know they're excited to move forward."

The Eagles dominated the Herd throughout the entire 90 minutes of play and maintained possession of the ball for almost 60% of the match. FGCU's back line limited Marshall to just four shots, the lowest of any opponent the team has matched up against this season.

In the 29th minute of the game, Popadinova capped off an unassisted drive into the box with her third goal of the season that gave the Green and Blue its initial 1-0 edge. In the opening 45 minutes, FGCU tallied six shots, including a pair on goal, while the Herd took just two.

FGCU carried its intensity from the first half into the second stanza, as senior Marjorie Boilesen fired a shot off less than a minute after the teams kicked off. Boilesen, Popadinova and redshirt-junior Megan Young each wore down Marshall's keeper with on-frame tests.

With less than 13 minutes left in the match, Popadinova scored her second goal of the day after heading in a ball from Young, who had sent in a pass from junior Syniah Clark. Both Young and Clark notched their second assists of the season on the shot.

Senior Melissa Weck (5-3) only had to make one save as she collected her fourth shutout of the season. With today's result, she now stands at second in the FGCU record book with 31.4 career shutouts. Popadinova, who will wear #17 for the rest of the season, is up to 18 career goals, the seventh-most in team history, which pushed her pass Ally Kasun (17, 2012-15) and tied with Boilesen.

Up Next:
FGCU will open up A-SUN league play with a two-match road swing against North Alabama (3-5-0) and Lipscomb (6-3-0), who finished in the top two of the conference a season ago. The Eagles will take on the Lions in an 8 p.m. match on Thursday, Sept. 26 before heading up to Nashville to take on reigning A-SUN champ Lipscomb at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 29.

FGCU VB: Sunshine State Classic Day Two Recap

Cortney VanLiew had a match-high 16 kills to earn tournament MVP recognition as the FGCU volleyball team (10-2) swept Florida Atlantic (6-4) 25-14, 25-14, 25-18 to capture the Sunshine State Classic championship.

"Our sideout game was very sharp today," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "We continued to pressure from the service line, and our players were making good decisions on the court. We found a really nice balance as attackers that allowed us to keep FAU off balance."

VanLiew added six digs and two block assists while hitting .483. The junior outside hitter recorded 46 kills (.330) along with 24 digs, five block assists and two aces this weekend. Dana Axner, who combined for 55 digs and 11 assists, and Chelsey Lockey, who had 130 assists and six block assists, were also named to the all-tourney team.

"Cortney was outstanding today and did a nice job mixing up speeds and angles offensively while also managing first touch really well," Botsford said.

Daniele Serrano, who recorded seven kills at a .467 clip, had three block assists and one solo block in the win over FAU. In doing so, she now has 402.0 career blocks, becoming the first player in program history to surpass 400.

"Dani played very efficiently and her blocking impact jump started a lot of point scoring runs for us," Botsford said.

With her output this weekend, Serrano not only stands above all players in program history, but she moved into fifth place in A-SUN history - surpassing Stetson's Ellen Hawks, who had 400.0 from 2010-13. Next up on the list is Danielle Neville (Jacksonville, 2002-05), who had 408.0.

Against FAU, the Eagles held a slim 16-14 advantage in the opening set after two straight points from the Owls. However, FGCU got a kill and an ace from VanLiew and back-to-back kills from Erin Shomaker to spur a 9-0 run to close the set.

FAU was within three midway through the second frame, but the Green and Blue went on a 13-3 run and, despite three straight points from the Owls late, FGCU took a 2-0 lead following a kill from

Serrano. Following that, the Eagles scored 10 of the first 14 points in the third set and led by as many as nine while cruising to a 25-18 third set victory.

Outside of VanLiew, Shomaker finished second on the team with nine kills, three digs and one block assist. Snowy Burnam chipped in eight kills and tied for second on the team in digs with 10. She also had a team-high three aces and a block assist. Burnam's eight kills put her 

Amanda Carroll joined Serrano in achieving a milestone. The senior had 10 digs to push her career total to 1,086, surpassing her former teammate Courtney Stephens (1,084, 2014-17) for third place on the program's Division I era list. Axner, who had a match-high 19 digs, also moved up to seventh on the same list, pushing her total up to 831 and elevating her past Maggie Rick (823, 2015-18). She sits 47 shy of Karissa Rhoades (877, 2015-18) in sixth place.

Lockey led all players with 36 assists while adding three digs, two kills and a block assist. Aja Jones chipped in four kills and three blocks (one solo).

Burnam's eight kills put her at 522 and is in a neck and neck battle with senior Giovanna Borgiotti (523 career kills) for 16th and 17th all-time. Both are battling to surpass Leigh Pudwill (572, 2015-16) for 15th all-time. Burnam needs 51 kills to pass Pudwill, while Borgiotti needs 52.

Longtime assistant coach Daniel Mahy earned his 304th career win (277th with FGCU) while second year assistant coach Stephanie Zelinski earned her 65th.

Next Up:

FGCU will now have a quick turnaround as they'll leave for Lynchburg, Va. on Monday to battle Liberty at 6 p.m. on Tuesday for A-SUN Conference play. Following that, the Eagles return home for the first time since Aug. 31 to host North Alabama on Friday at 7 p.m.

FGCU VB: Sunshine State Classic Day One Recap

The FGCU volleyball team (9-2) finished day one of the Sunshine State Classic on a solid note as they shutout Miami (3-4) 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-23) before defeating RV UCF (6-4) 3-1 (24-26, 25-19, 25-21, 25-22) at the Venue at UCF in Orlando. With the wins, the Eagles are now 3-5 against the Knights and 2-3 against the Hurricanes. The win over the Hurricanes was also the Eagles' fourth win over a Power 5 Conference team.

"It was an amazing team effort today against two quality opponents," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "Our serving was a big factor, and I thought our floor defense was spectacular. We played very consistent throughout, which was a great sign of the progress being made by this group."

Offensive leaders on the day included Cortney VanLiew (30 kills, 18 digs), Erin Shomaker (20 kills), Snowy Burnam (19 kills, 16 digs) and Daniele Serrano (17 kills, eight blocks.). Chelsey Lockey recorded 94 assists, while Dana Axner had 36 digs combined. Six different players had at least three blocks, as well.

The nightcap featured a rematch of last year's NCAA Tournament first round matchup in which FGCU upset UCF in five sets.

The Eagles dropped a back-and-forth opening set after failing to capitalize on match point. Neither team led by more than two in the frame. After the Eagles opened up a 9-5 lead in the next set, UCF rallied to knot things at 16 apiece, but Amanda Carroll produced a solo block and a pair of kills to spur a 4-0 run. Burnam then evened up the match with a tip shot kill.

UCF held a 16-13 lead in the third set, but FGCU scored six straight behind a kill and a solo block from Aja Jones. Back-to-back kills from VanLiew then finished off a 25-21 set win.

Behind several big plays from Serrano, the Eagles then maintained control in the fourth before claiming a 25-22 clincher on a double block from Jones and Burnam.

"Aja brought a ton of energy into the UCF match and was a big factor in the result," Botsford said. "She played well beyond her years and came up with some key plays."

Lockey tied her career-high with 54 kills while adding eight digs and three block assists. VanLiew had a team-high 18 kills, while Serrano added 11 and Burnam had 10. Axner had a match-high 26 digs, while VanLiew and Burnam each finished double-doubles with 12 and 10 digs, respectively.

"Chelsey just keeps getting better every time we hit the floor and our offensive balance was good all day," Botsford said.

In the opener against Miami, FGCU produced its second consecutive sweep of the Hurricanes in as many seasons behind 12 kills apiece from VanLiew and Shomaker. Lockey led the way with 40 assists, while Axner had 10 digs. Serrano also contributed a team-high five blocks.

The Green and Blue maintained control throughout the match until the final set when the Hurricanes held a 21-15 lead, but FGCU ultimately rallied.

Notes:
Serrano now has 398.0 career blocks, surpassing Kylie Jacob (Jacksonville, 2010-13) and Sara Jacobson (Belmont, 2002-05) for seventh place on the A-SUN's career list. Next up is Brittany Rusin (Campbell, 2003-06) with 399.0 and Ellen Hawks (Stetson, 2010-13) with 400.0.

With her 19 total kills in both matches, Burnam became the 17th Eagle to reach 500 kills in her career and the fifth active player to do so (Carroll, VanLiew, Serrano and senior Giovanna Borgiotti). Burnam now has 518 in her career.

Longtime assistant coach Daniel Mahy earned his 302nd and 303rd career wins (274th and 275th with FGCU) while second year assistant coach Stephanie Zelinski earned her 63rd and 64th career wins.

Up Next:
The Eagles will close out the event on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against Florida Atlantic.

FGCU WSOC vs Creighton Recap

 FGCU women's soccer head coach Jim Blankenship reached 400 career wins on Friday night at the FGCU Soccer Complex as the Eagles (4-3-0) defeated Creighton (6-2-0) by a score of 2-1. Blankenship is in his 26th season of coaching collegiate soccer and his 13th with the Green and Blue.

Only 16 active Division I coaches in NCAA women's soccer have surpassed the 400-win mark and just three others are in their 26th season.

"I'm incredibly proud for our players, I know this win meant a lot to them and this was our best win of the season by far," said Blankenship. "Creighton played exactly as hard as we thought they would. For our players to step up and meet that challenge was great and will hopefully give us some confidence."

FGCU put the pressure on its visitors immediately after kick-off and senior Evdokia Popadinova found the back of the net just 12 minutes into the game, putting the home team on top 1-0. Both senior Marjorie Boilesen and junior Syniah Clark were credited with assists on Popadinova's second goal of the season and 16th career goal with FGCU as she tied Gina Petracco (16, 2008-11) for eighth

Just over a minute after the Eagles' goal, Creighton tested senior Melissa Weck with a shot that was fired from 15 yards out, but the keeper came up with the save to keep the Bluejays at bay.

Through the opening 45 minutes of play, the Eagles outshot Creighton 10-2 and posted a 4-3 edge in corner kicks. Both Boilesen and junior Cassidy Morgan launched shots on-frame in the final minutes of the first stanza, but were denied, sending FGCU into the break with the 1-0 advantage.

Freshman Louise Lillback added to the Green and Blue lead with a goal of her own in the 65th minute that put FGCU up 2-0. Popadinova and redshirt-junior Megan Young collected assists on Lillback's second career goal as an Eagle.

With less than seven minutes to go in the match, Creighton scored after capitalizing on a set-piece opportunity, cutting FGCU's lead in half. The Bluejays tried to get another shot off against Weck (4-3), but the Eagles' back line stifled the Creighton offense as the home team held on for Blankenship's historic win.

"You can't achieve something like this in your career without having great people around you," said Blankenship. "I am so thankful for all of the coaches who helped me along my journey and made me the coach I am today. I'm also grateful for the players who I played alongside with and who I still learn from today. I also could not do this without the support of my family and my wife. I'm on the road a lot and they are fully supportive of me and this team and that just means the world."

Creighton entered Fort Myers on a four-match winning streak and had previously only lost to No. 10 Clemson by a score of 1-0. The Bluejays also started the week with the No. 8 RPI in the nation. Over the course of the night, FGCU outshot Creighton 13-9.

Up Next:
FGCU will remain at the Nest to host Marshall (2-6-0) for a 1 p.m. match on Sunday, Sept. 22. It will be "We Are FGCU Day" at the FGCU Soccer Complex and fans are encouraged to participate in the blue out. The meeting will be the first between the two programs; so far this season, the Eagles are 2-0 against first-time opponents on Sundays.

FGCU VB: Sunshine State Classic Preview

 The FGCU volleyball team (7-2) will head a bit north for the Sunshine State Classic on Friday and Saturday, which will include tough matchups against UCF (6-3), Miami (2-3) and Florida Atlantic (6-2). The event is being hosted at The Venue at UCF.

The event, which was hosted by Miami last year, is in its third year of existence with the same four teams. FGCU went 0-3 in 2017, but bounced back to finish 2-1 last year while knocking off Miami on its home court for the program's first-ever road Power 5 win.

The Contestants:
All four teams finished within the top 80 of last year's final RPI - UCF (10th), FGCU (47th), FAU (75th) and Miami (79th).

Scouting UCF:
UCF will enter the this year's event at 6-3 overall, coming off a weekend in which they upset No. 14 Illinois in four sets and fell to No. 7 Marquette in five. Those performances helped them receive votes in the latest AVCA poll for the fourth straight week, and they'll be looking to avenge last year's five-set loss to FGCU in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament that also ended their 24-match winning streak. They'll be led by sophomore McKenna Melville, who has 144 kills, 101 digs and 16 blocks over 36 sets.

Scouting the U:
Miami, who went 13-12 overall last year, is off to a 2-3 start this season with losses to TCU, Auburn and Missouri. The Hurricanes will be led by freshman outside hitter Kennedy Prince, who has at least 14 kills in every match along with 36 total digs through five matches. Head coach Jose "Keno" Gandara recorded his 100th career win at Miami in last year's event.

Scouting FAU:
Florida Atlantic, which enters at 6-2 overall and is coached by former FGCU assistant Fernanda Nelson, is 3-3 against the Eagles since Nelson took over in 2012. FGCU won in straight sets last year's meeting. The Owls, who went 21-7 last year, have taken then No. 22 Florida State to five sets this year and knocked off TCU on the road in five. They also have another strong win over Boston College in four sets. One of their top players will be junior outside hitter Sydney Nemtuda, who has team-highs in kills (80) and digs (94) along with eight aces and seven blocks.

Last Time Out:
The Eagles, who had a Division I era program-best 6-0 start to the season before falling to No. 15 Kentucky and Indiana this past weekend, also had their 19-match regular season winning streak come to an end in the Bluegrass Battle, although Dana Axner was named to the all-tournament team.

FGCU has been well-represented so far this year among the A-SUN's weekly awards. Cortney VanLiew and Axner were named the player and defensive player of the week, respectively, on Sept. 3. Erin Shomaker was named the top freshman a week later, and Tori Morris was the defensive player of the week this week.

FGCU MSOC vs #13 UCF Preview

The No. 12 FGCU men's soccer team is set to host No. 13 UCF Wednesday night at 7 p.m. It will be FGCU's home third match of the season.

The Green and Blue:
FGCU is coming of a California road trip where it dropped two matches against UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton. UC Riverside continues to receive votes while then-ranked No. 23 Cal State Fullerton who is now No. 14.

Senior Ryan Medilah leads the Eagles in goals (three), and points (seven). Senior Ivan Rosales has netted a pair of scores while classmate Shak Adams leads the team in assists (two). In net, redshirt junior keeper Gustavo Vasconcelos (3-2-1) has started all six contests, securing 27 saves (1.45 GAA), and one clean sheet.

Scouting the Knights:
UCF comes into the Nest with an overall record of 3-1-1, most recently defeating Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), 2-0, last Friday night. Cal Jennings fuels the UCF attack so far netting four goals. Meanwhile, Louis Perez leads the squad with two assists. Keeper Yannik Oettl has logged every start between the posts, gathering 11 saves (1.29 GAA) while conceding seven goals.

Series History:
FGCU leads the all-time series 4-2-1. This will be the first matchup in which both clubs are nationally ranked when squaring off against each other. 

In the Polls:
In TopDrawerSoccer.com's week four poll, the Eagles came in at No. 12 (No. 11 is the highest the program has ever been ranked back in October 2016). UCF is currently ranked No. 13 in the United Soccer Coaches poll.

The United Soccer Coaches has FGCU slotted No. 4 in the Atlantic Region poll while UCF is No. 4 in the East Region poll.

How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be available and will air on the FGCU Men's Soccer Facebook Page.

Livestats Link: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=275953

Livestream Link: https://www.facebook.com/FGCUMSoccer/

Third Time's the Charm for SCF VB vs Daytona

The SCF volleyball team (2-8) remain at home for their third home match at Hal Chasey Gymnasium. The Manatees welcome Daytona State College (7-2) Tuesday night, September 17 at 6 pm.

Last Time Out:
The Manatees are coming off of returning home after going 1-3 at the Daytona State Invitational where they earned their first win against Palm Beach State. In their second home match, the Manatees pulled away with a big 3-0 shutout over Webber International (NAIA-JV).

Offensively, it is the duo of sophomore Lekeesha Esseboom and freshman Leilani Wilcox-Nanai that lead the way. Esseboom currently has 78 kills and 17 blocks (six solo) in her name while Wilcox-Nanai has 72 kills and 91 digs. Esseboom had five kills and three blocks (two solo) against Webber while Wilcox-Nanai had three kills and eight digs.

Freshman Gracee Carpino lead the way with 274 assists and 18 aces. Carpino had 15 assists and three aces against Webber.

Defensively, along with Esseboom, sophomores Barbora Tichackova and Daviya Bernard and freshman Lisa Jaunet lead the team as the key blockers. Tichackova has 28 total blocks (nine solo) to go with her 34 kills and 12 aces, Bernard had 17 blocks with her 51 kills and Jaunet had 18 blocks with her 36 kills. Tichackova has a career-high eight aces with three kills and four blocks (one solo), Bernard with five kills and a block and Jaunet had two kills and two blocks (one solo) against Webber.

1,000 Dig Club:
For sophomore Sydney Jaco, she did the unthinkable against Webber as she claimed her 1,000th career dig in the third set. Jaco currently has 217 digs in her name as well as 20 assists and an ace. Against Webber, the Braden River product had 23 digs and 1,001 in her career.

Scouting Daytona State:
The Manatees have faced Daytona State on two times this season on neutral grounds (Santa Fe/Campus USA Classic and the Daytona State Invitational) with both scores in Daytona State's favor. The Falcons are coming off of facing Palm Beach State where they won 3-1 on the road.

Offensively, freshman Carla Hernandez leads the team with 104 kills and 10 aces. Against PBSC Hernandez had a double-double of 13 kills and 11 digs and three aces. Sophomore Bruna Avila has 317 assists and eight aces. Avila had a double-double of 46 assists and 10 digs and one ace.

Defensively, sophomore Alexis Thompson has 35 blocks (11 solo) in her name to go with her 30 kills, while classmate Nicole Rodriguez has 127 digs in her name. Against PBSC, Thompson had six kills and two blocks while Rodriguez had 19 digs.

The Manatees are 2-13 against the Falcons which included the two losses this season. Last time the Manatees defeated Daytona State was on October 3, 2014 where the Manatees won 3-0 as part of their third longest winning streak.

How to Keep Up:
The match will be livestream on game central, the new home for SCF athletics and fans can also keep up to date with both teams on Twitter:
SCF: @SCFVolleyball
DSC:  @DSCFalconSports

Livestream Link: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/scf/

FGCU WSOC vs Ball State Recap

The FGCU women's soccer team (3-3) finished the weekend on a good note as they shutout Ball State (5-2) 2-0.

"We knew that this was going to be a tough match," head coach Jim Blankenship said. "Ball State is very good, very organized and hard to crack. I'm pleased with our team and the result we earned. A win like this is fantastic and something I hope we can build on."

"Today was another game where we started slow and it put us behind early," said Ball State head coach Josh Rife. "In the second half, and even after the red card, I thought the girls responded well and finished strong. It was a long, tough trip with lots of positives to take away, but also some harsh lessons learned. Hopefully we are better because of it."

For starting goalkeepers, Blakenship sent senior Melissa Weck to the box while Rife sent grad student Tristin Stuteville to counter.

The Eagles began to rattle the Cardinals after senior Evidokia "Evi" Popadinova fired a shot three minutes into the first half, but to no avail. While continuing to get on the board first, the Eagles were also able to stop Ball State from trying to get a shot off in succcess.

31 minutes in, the Eagle would get on the board first as senior Marjorie "Ma" Boilesen scored a goal with assists from sophomore Kara Kyramarios and freshman Louise Lillback. This was Boilesen's third goal of the season and her 19th career goal at FGCU.

At the 39 minute mark, the Cardinals were able to get their first shot of the game as junior Nicky Potts kicked it our right before the end of the first half.

As the second half went underway, the Cardinals started to get a little too aggressive on defense as Stuteville attempted to stop redshirt junior Megan Young from scoring on a through ball, but an inadvertent and costly trip gave her a red card and ejected her from the game.Rife sent sophomore Alex DeRuvo to the box as a sub for Stuteville.

From there, Boilesen would be issued a penalty shot and was able to hit the goal in the mid-left corner for her second goal of the game, fourth goal of the season and 20th career goal with the Eagles before the game ended. The Brazilian is three goals away from passing Paulina Speckmaier (22, 2013-16) for fifth all-time.

Weck (3-3) would finish with three saves in her third shutout of the season 30.4th shutout in her career. She needs just one more to overtake Stephanie Powers (2008-11) for second place in the Eagle record book.

Stuteville (5-2) would finish with three saves and allow one goal in 48 minutes before the red card.  Stuteville will serve a one game suspension per the rules of the NCAA (Rule 12.8).

DeRuvo gave up the second goal in 41 minutes.

Up Next:
The Eagles remain at home as they welcome Creighton (5-1) Friday night, September 20 at 7 pm. The match will be dubbed as a whiteout and Stars and Stripes Night.

FGCU XC: Mountain Dew Invitational Recap

The FGCU cross country programs concluded their third regular season meet of the season as the men's side place seventh while the women's squad came in 16th, Saturday morning at the Mark Bostic Golf Course.

"On the men's side we were missing some key people in the race," said head coach Cassandra Goodson. "With that being said, we had a few people step up and help the team. The women did a good job of finding each other on the course. There's still more there as far as team scores go but overall I am confident we will re-group and learn from these races."

Lucas Kiprotich led the way for the Eagles coming in fourth overall (25:37.8, season best) in a field of over 300 runners. On top of placing in the top 10 of each meet this year, his fourth overall finish becomes the highest in program history at the Mountain Dew Invitational – Johnathan Lanning placed sixth in 2010. Boniface Mutai crossed the line in 27th while Jan Figueroa rounded out the top 50 coming in 41st. Bradyn Ricca and Cole Pruim were the final runners to score for the men, coming in 67th and 105th, respectively.

Gianna Citarella paced the women's team with season-best 5k mark (19:51.5) coming in 67th overall. Jillian Felton etched another season-best time finishing 73rd (19:59.2) as Emily O'Connor placed 79th to round off the top 100. Julia Filip and Madeline Wyers were the final Eagles to score as they crossed the end line 117th and 153rd, respectively.

The eventual winner for the men's and women's meets was Florida while the individual winner was Nathan Jubran of UNF for the men and Jessica Pascoe of UF.

Up Next
The Eagles are back in action on Saturday, Oct. 5 when they head to Louisville, Ky., for the Live in Lou Classic.

Men's Individual Results
4. Lucas Kiprotich – 25:37.8
27. Boniface Mutai – 26:39.0
41. Jan Figueroa – 27:20.4
67. Bradyn Ricca – 27:53.8
105. Cole Pruim – 28:40.5

Women's Individual Results
67. Gianna Citarella – 19:51.5
73. Jillian Felton – 19:59.2
79. Emily O'Connor – 20:01.8
117. Julia Filip – 20:58.0
153. Madeline Wyers – 21:59.4
154. Reilly Ritter – 22:03.1

FGCU VB: Bluegrass Battle Day Two Recap

 The FGCU volleyball team (7-2) produced 26 block assists to grab a 25-16, 25-15, 20-25, 25-20 win over Cleveland State to close out the Bluegrass Battle at the University of Kentucky's Memorial Coliseum on Saturday.

"Today was one of the better defensive performances I have seen from this group," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "CSU has some very talented hitters that can really influence the course of a match and I thought the team did a great job of limiting their impact."

The Eagles, who will be back in action next weekend in Orlando against Miami, UCF and Florida Atlantic, tied for the fourth-highest team block assist total in the program's Division I era, finishing just four shy of the record set against Lipscomb on Oct. 7 of last year.

Individually, senior Daniele Serrano (7), who also had nine kills, and sophomore Tori Morris (6) combined for 13 of those block assists, while five others had at least two.

"Considering the late night we had on Friday, getting back to hotel a little after midnight, and the heat in that gym in the earlier two matches, I knew our players were exhausted," Botsford said. "To see them come out and execute so well early on really showcases how much focus they put into their preparation and their ability to play assignment volleyball against a tough opponent."

FGCU used an 8-0 run to seize control of the opening set after a back-and-forth start. Clinging to a one-point lead, junior Cortney VanLiew had half of the team's four kills during the stretch that allowed the Eagles to claim a 23-14 lead. The junior outside hitter then recorded her fifth kill of the set to give her team the victory.

In the second set, sophomore Chelsey Lockey produced a successful setter dump to start a 4-0 run that gave FGCU a 12-7 lead. She teamed with Serrano on a block to finish the spurt, and Erin Shomaker sent down her second kill of the frame to push the lead to seven moments later. The Eagles then took a two-set lead with three straight points as Shelby Beisner served out the set.

After hitting .290 and .250, respectively, in the first two sets, FGCU was held to a .156 performance in the third set as Cleveland State took the lead early and scored eight of the first 11 points. An unforced error allowed the Eagles to tie it up at 19, but CSU scored six of the final seven points to extend the match.

Junior Snowy Burnam, however, led the Green and Blue with four of her team-high 12 kills in the fourth set to finish off the win. The junior outside hitter added five digs and five blocks (one solo), while VanLiew grabbed her fourth double-double of the season with 10 kills, 11 digs, two blocks and two assists. Burnam's 12 kills put her at 499 and needs one more kill to become the 17th player to reach 500 career kills.

Lockey led all players with 42 assists and 10 digs for her second straight and fourth double-double of the season. She added three blocks and three kills, while classmate Dana Axner had team-high 18 digs and two assists.

Redshirt senior Amanda Carroll, who had her third kill on the match-winning point, also contributed 11 digs and two block assists.

Longtime assistant coach Daniel Mahy earned his 273rd win as a coach for FGCU and his 301st as a coach in the NCAA while second year assistant coach Stephanie Zelinski earned her 62nd.

Notes:
Axner was named to the Bluegrass Battle all-tournament team … VanLiew is now one kill shy of matching Kaitlin Holm (926, 2011-13) for fourth place in career kills … Carroll added a solo block to tie Ashley Yance (41, 2007-09) for the third most in a career in the program's Division I era … Serrano now has 390.0 career blocks, which is two shy of tying Jacksonville's Kylie Jacob (2010-13) and Belmont's Sara Jacobson (2002-05) for seventh place on the A-SUN's career list

Up Next:
The Eagles will remain on the road for the final tournament as they travel to Orlando to participate in the Sunshine State Challenge. The Eagles will face host UCF (6-3), Miami (2-3), and Florida Atlantic (FAU) (6-2).

Jaco Makes 1,000 for SCF VB

The SCF volleyball team (2-8) returned home in success at the Hal Chasey Gymnasium in Bradenton as they shutout Webber International (JV) 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-21). With the win, the Manatees are now 5-0 against the Warriors.

"I feel as though we did really well," said sophomore Sydney Jaco. "It definitely wasn't one of our harder matches and we weren't playing our best, but we still came out on top. It was a good win at the end of the day and I think we're just very happy and positive right now."

"It wasn't one of our hardest matches since we did come back from the Daytona State Invitational," said freshman Leilani Wilcox-Nanai. "Tonight was good to use this match as a way we can work on the weakness points and work on our plays and from what the scoreboard says there were some mistakes, but it's like a learning curve and we were successful with our communication and at running things."

Offensively, it was sophomores Lakeesha Esseboom and Daviya Bernard led the team with five kills each. Esseboom added three blocks (two solo) and a dig, while Bernard added one block. Wilcox-Nanai and classmate Bailey Sikkema had three kills each. Wilcox-Nanai added eight digs and an ace, while Sikkema added three digs and two blocks. Freshman Gracee Carpino followed with 15 assists and three aces.

"It wasn't one of my best games and it was hard because we didn't get a lot of balls returned to us, so we couldn't play a lot," said Wilcox-Nanai on her performance. "It was frustrating because you really want to hit the ball, but it was good. Defensively, we adjusted since we were facing teams that were hard hitters (Daytona State) and uses the top of their hands, so it was good that we were able to adjust quickly. My servicing was pretty spot-on tonight even with a few mistakes."

Defensively, it was sophomore Barbora Tichackova that led the team with four blocks (one solo) to go with her three kills and a career-high eight service aces while Jaco finished with 23 digs and an ace.

"I think I did well," said Jaco on her performance. "I don't think it was a great game or a bad game. I think mostly everything came my way and got up. Servicing was pretty on tonight even with a few mistakes that I made that weren't that great. Overall, it was decently well played good game."

The main story of this matchup was from the cusp of Jaco. Following the footsteps of her older sister, Brittany, the libero out of Braden River went into tonight's match with 978 career digs. In the third set Jaco was able to pull off the impossible and got her 1,000th career dig with the Manatees.

"It was amazing," said Jaco on getting her 1,000th dig. "I wouldn't have known that because I wasn't getting hit to a lot, so I didn't think I had at least 10 digs. Then September, our student manager, was like 'Yo, we're at 22 digs' and then everyone started going wild as well as the whole crowd. I didn't think anyone would know at all and the fact that my teammates made me signs and got me balloons, it showed that they were the best team ever."

Other players that contributed big were sophomore Hannah Strickland (one ace and two digs) and freshmen Brooke Henry (six digs and an ace), Lisa Jaunet (two kills, six assists, three digs and two blocks (one solo)) and Jazmin Spencer (one kills and one block).

In attendance, several athletes from the SCF basketball, tennis, baseball and softball team were in attendance as well as members of the SCF math department and SCF Maniacs to root for the volleyball team.

"It was awesome. Honestly, that's all we wish for at the end of the day is that people will come out and support us," said Jaco on the attendance. "We do the same exact thing for the other athletes 100 percent, but it's great. When they (other SCF athletes) held up signs, I honestly teared up, but I was grateful for whoever came out tonight because we appreciate it so much."

Other Suncoast Scores:
St. Pete College (2-0) won their second match of the season after defeating Santa Fe College 3-1. They will play two straight home matches against Polk State (9/12) and Santa Fe (9/17).

Florida Southwestern (4-3) defeated Broward College and upset #15 College of Central Florida by scores of 3-1 in a tri-match. The Buccaneers will play in the two-day FSC Jacksonville Tournament against host Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ), Eastern Florida State and Richard Bland (9/13-14).

#7 Hillsborough (9-1) dropped their first match of the season as they fell 3-1 to Daytona State College. They will join FSW in the two-day FSC Jacksonville Tournament (9/13-14) and compete against Eastern Florida State, St. Thomas University (NAIA-JV), Richard Bland and host FSCJ.

Up Next:
The Manatees will remain at home as they welcome Daytona State (6-2) Tuesday, Sept 17 at 6 pm.

"We expect fast play, big hitters and a mobile setter," said Wilcox-Nanai on Daytona State. "Unlike the other matches, we've been focusing on what they're bringing us than what were bringing them and for this match we're gonna focus on what we can bring to them."

*Side note: Jaco and Wilcox-Nanai were the first SCF volleyball players I interviewed.

FGCU VB: Bluegrass Battle Day One Recap

The FGCU volleyball team (6-2) lost a pair of matches to No. 15 Kentucky (30-28, 25-19, 24-26, 25-17) and Indiana (25-23, 25-18, 25-23) at the University of Kentucky's Memorial Coliseum on Friday as part of the Bluegrass Battle. The Eagles, who saw their 19-match regular season winning streak come to an end, will conclude their participation in the event with a 1 p.m. matchup against Cleveland State on Saturday.

"I was pretty disappointed with the execution level (in the first match) as Indiana did a great job dictating play from the service line," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford. "We were very high error and just couldn't find much of a rhythm. That being said, against Kentucky, I was very proud of how we competed. We came out much more focused, and for a majority of the match, our first contact was very efficient. Tori (Morris) played great tonight against a quality opponent, and I loved how we were fighting for every point as a group. Kentucky makes it tough to score and there are no easy points, but there were a lot of positives out there that we can build on."

In the finale, FGCU and Kentucky traded blows in an opening set that featured 18 ties and eight lead changes. Ultimately, the Wildcats claimed a 30-28 victory and took a 2-0 edge with a six-point win the following set.

However, behind a solid team effort, FGCU extended the match with a back row kill from Cortney VanLiew to finish the third set. In the fourth, the Eagles led 7-5 following a kill from Erin Shomaker, but Kentucky reeled off four straight and outscored FGCU 20-10 to close the match.

Offensively, VanLiew led the way with 17 kills while adding seven digs and three blocks (one solo). Shomaker added a season-high 11 kills along with two blocks, while Tori Morris had eight kills at a .571 clip while adding five blocks (two solo).

Chelsey Lockey led the Eagles with 41 assists and added 14 digs and two blocks for her third double-double of the season. Defensively, she was joined by Dana Axner (18 digs, two aces, two assists) and Amanda Carroll (14 digs, one solo block, one assist). Daniele Serrano contributed four blocks (one solo) and seven kills.

In the morning, FGCU (9) and Indiana (17) combined for 26 service errors as the Memorial Coliseum had giant fans running due to 90 plus degree temperatures and no air conditioning. Despite that, the Eagles nearly made a thrilling comeback in the opening set behind a 4-0 run but dropped a pair of two-point sets in the sweep.

VanLiew (12) and Shomaker (7) combined for 19 of the team's 26 kills, while Lockey had 20 assists and eight digs. VanLiew added 10 digs for her third double-double of the season, while Axner had seven digs and three assists.

Notes:
VanLiew has now reached double-digit kills in seven of eight matches this year with 125 total. Against Kentucky, she became the fifth player in the program's Division I era to reach at least 900 career kills, and she needs just 12 more to surpass Kaitlin Holm (926, 2011-13) for fourth place. Furthermore, she surpassed 1,000 career points, becoming the fifth in the Division I era to do so.

Carroll recorded one solo block on Friday to push her career total to 40. She needs one more to tie Ashley Yance (41, 2007-09) for third place in the Division I era.

Serrano had six total blocks on the day to push her career total to 383.0, which moves her up to ninth place on the A-SUN's career list. She surpassed Alex Kelly (380.0, Lipscomb, 2007-10) and is now nine away from tying Jacksonville's Kylie Jacob (2010-13) and Belmont's Sara Jacobson (2002-05) for seventh place. Serrano's one solo block put her at 58 and remains five shy of passing Olivia Mesner (62, 2011-13) as the all-time leader in solo blocks.

Junior Snowy Burnam had three kills total in both matches, which put her at 487 and need 13 to become the 17th player to reach 500 career kills.

Senior Giovanna Borgiotti had four kills in both matches, which puts her at 521 and needs 52 to pass Leigh Pudwill (572, 2015-16) for 15th all-time.

FGCU MSOC @ UC Riverside Recap

The No. 14 FGCU men's soccer team (3-1-1) suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of UC Riverside (4-1-0), who is receiving votes, by a score of 2-0 Friday night at the UCR Soccer Stadium.

"This game is a very good example for everyone involved," said head coach Jesse Cormier. "We are no better than anyone else when we're not ready to compete,  when we play as individuals, and don't work well collectively."

Keeper Gustavo Vasconcelos was on his toes early on coming up with two saves inside 17 minutes to keep the home side off the board. On offense for the Eagles, Shak Adams fired off four of the six first half shots for FGCU, with one hitting off the right post in the 27th minute. Just before the intermission, Miguel Perez tested the UCR keeper but was denied with save down the middle in the 41st minute.

In the second stanza, the Highlanders scored two goals in two minutes. The first goal arrived in the 54th while the second tally was driven home in the 56th minute. Olli Pirinen recorded an assist on both goals for UCR.

FGCU registered six shots in the second half with two coming on target by Ivan Rosales, one in the 87th and the final one with just under 30 seconds left. Adams and Rosales each registered four shots apiece. The Eagles capped off the night launching 12 shots, three on frame and edged UCR in corners, 7-5. Keeper Vasconcelos secured five saves in the losing effort as he moves to 3-1-1 in net.

"We didn't play all phases of the game and have the right amount of determination and focused energy to pass this test tonight," added Cormier. "UCR deserved to win, they wanted it more and took care of key details and plays to be the more effective team tonight. Our biggest challenge is to see how much we can learn from our failures and do a better job against Cal State Fullerton Sunday." 

Up Next:
FGCU will face No. 23 Cal State Fullerton (4-0-0) Sunday night at 8 pm EDT (5 PM PDT). The Titans are facing Air Force tonight.

FGCU Volleyball: Bluegrass Battle Preview

The FGCU volleyball team (6-0) continues their journey on the road as they travel to Lexington, Kentucky for the Bluegrass Battle on Friday and Saturday, September 13-14. The Eagles will play against Indiana (5-2), #15 Kentucky (4-2) and Cleveland State (2-4).

Last Time Out:
The Eagles continue their best start of the season after competing in the Hurricane Invitational in Coral Gables where they defeated USF, Auburn and George Washington. The win over Auburn was the Eagles' first win over an SEC team and the third win overall against a Power 5 Conference school.

Furthermore, FGCU is one of only 23 teams across the nation that have yet to be beaten, and they are currently riding a 19-match regular season winning streak that stretches back to Oct. 7 of last year.

Ms. 900:
For junior Cortney VanLiew, she is on pace to reach 900 kills in her career. Currently, the native of Seymour, Indiana has 96 kills in her name as well as eight aces and 10 blocks. VanLiew had 44 kills, four aces and four blocks at the Hurricane Invitational, which included a double-double against George Washington. VanLiew has 886 career kills and is 14 away from becoming the sixth player to get 900 kills. In addition, VanLiew needs 41 kills to passing Kaitlin Holm (926, 2011-13) for fifth all-time.

1408:
Redshirt senior Amanda Carroll continues to add kills in her regime after finishing at the Hurricane Invitational with 10 kills and five aces. Carroll currently has 13 kills and six aces in her name. The 13 kills put her at 1,408 in her career while her six aces put her at 107 and is 33 shy of passing Ana Kokanovic (139, 2007-08) as the all-time leader.

Lock Up:
After Maggie Rick graduated, sophomore Chelsea Lockey has done her part of taking over for the all-time assists leader. Lockey currently has 237 assists on the year and 713 in her career (7th all-time). At the Hurricane Invitational, Lockey had 103 assists and 28 digs. The 103 assists pushed her Ciara Sandoval (679, 2005) for 7th all-time. She needs 287 to become the seventh player to reach 1,000 career digs and 376 to pass Camil Dominguez (1,089 2010-11) for sixth all-time.

Paul Bunyan's Apprentice:
Sophomore Dana Axner currently leads the way with 109 digs (5.19 digs per set) and has 733 in her career (12th all-time). The defending A-SUN Defensive Player of the Year had 40 at the Hurricane Invitational and needs 33 to pass Chandra Lefever (765, 2006-07, 09) for 11th all-time.

Shoe Fly:
For freshman Erin Shoemaker, she has been on wavelengths offensively and defensively. Shoemaker, who has 40 kills and 12 blocks, had 15 total kills in wins over USF and Auburn, was named the ASUN's freshman of the week on Monday. She had eight kills over 11 attempts (.727) against USF and seven kills in 12 attempts vs Auburn (.583). She also totaled two digs and four blocks (two solo) on the week.

"Erin did a great job for us this weekend in a role that was really important, coming off the bench and changing the complexity of the game with her blocking and attacking," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "She had really good decision making, cutting down on errors. Her hitting efficiency and kill percentage were a big part of our success this weekend."

Mojo 500:
In the match against Bryant, senior Giovanna "Giogio" Borgiotti earned her 500th career kill with the team and became the 16th Eagle in doing so and now has 517 in her career. Borgiotti is 56 shy of passing Leigh Pudwill (572, 2015-16) for 15th all-time. Currently, Borgiotti has 22 kills and five blocks in her name. At the Hurricane Invitational, she had five kills and four blocks.

A Winter Wonderland:
Junior Snowy Burnam is also on pace to becoming the 17th Eagle to reach 500 kills. Burnam has 34 kills in her name thus far and has 484 in her career after passing Brittany Muse (480, 2009-12) for 17th all-time. Burnam needs 16 more kills to become the 17th player to reach 500 career kills.

Spice Burns:
Senior Daniele Serrano is second on the team in kills (44) and is tied for second with Burnam in blocks (14). Serrano's 44 kills put her at 658 and is seven away from passing Jelena Semic (649, 2009, 2011) for 13th all-time and 42 shy of becoming the 10th player to reach 700 career kills. As for her blocking, Serrano has 377 total blocks (all-time leader), 320 block assists (all-time leader) and 57 (2nd all-time). Serrano is six away from passing Olivia Mesner (62, 2011-13) as the all-time leader in solo blocks.

World Tor:
Defensively, sophomore Tori Morris has become a key factor in blocking as she leads the team with 22 blocks (two solo) to go with her 23 kills. Morris had 14 kills and 12 blocks at the Hurricane Invitational.

Block Party 2.0:
The Block Party 2.0, (Serrano, Borgiotti, Burnam, VanLiew, Morris, Shoemaker and freshman Aja Jones) have a combined 86 total blocks (14 solo). The squad had 33 blocks at the Hurricane Invitational.

Assist Life:
Longtime assistant coach Daniel Mahy has also reached his milestone. Mahy earned his 272nd career win as a coach for FGCU and his 300th overall win as a coach. Mahy enters his 14th season as assistant coach with the exclusion of two seasons at DII Barry University.

Scouting Indiana:
The Hoosiers are coming off of competing in the Hoosier Invitational where they split day one with 3-0 shutout win over Oregon State and a 3-2 loss to Oklahoma before defeating Yale 3-1.

Offensively, sophomore Breana Edwards leads the team with 105 kills with 32 digs while senior Deyshia Lofton follows with 70 kills and leads the team with 32 blocks (seven solo).

Defensively, freshman Haley Armstrong lead the team with 97 digs while the senior Jacqui Armer follows Lofton with 28 blocks.

Scouting Kentucky:
The Wildcats dropped from being ranked #12 to #15 after competing in the UNI Tournament where they fell 3-1 to then #23 Creighton (now #17) before defeating then #15 USC (now #20) 3-1 and then shutting out RV host Northern Illinois (unranked) 3-0.

Offensively, the Wildcats are led by senior Leah Edmond and sophomore Alli Stumler. Edmond leads the team with 80 while Stumler has 67 kills in her name as well as eight aces. Junior Madison Lilley has 234 assists and 16 blocks.

Defensively, grad student Leah Meyer leads the team with 24 blocks to go with her 40 kills while junior Gabby Curry has 96 digs in her name.

Scouting Cleveland State:
The Vikings last competed in the Hampton Ball State Invitational where they defeated Butler (3-2) and Charlotte (3-0) in the first two matches before falling to host Ball State (3-1).

Offensively, senior Trinniti Hall and junior Hannah Greene lead the team offensively. Hall has a team-leading 87 kills in her name as well as a team-leading 10 aces and 20 blocks (four solo) while Greene has 78 kills and a team-leading 28 blocks (seven solo). Sophomore Christina Grecol has 239 assists in her name offensively.

Defensively, aside from Greene and Hall's combing 48 blocks, sophomore Lindsey Tout has 96 digs in her name while junior Emily DeGeorge follows with 84.

Series History:
While it will be the first time FGCU plays Kentucky and Cleveland State, the series against Indiana will be the third time both teams play with the series tied at 1-1. The first time was at the Homewood Suites Classic at FGCU where the Eagles won 3-2 (9/10/16). The Hoosiers would return the favor and defeat the Eagles 3-2 in the Hoosier Classic (9/16/17).

Scheduling:
9/13-
FGCU vs Indiana (10 am)
UK vs Cleveland State (noon)
Indiana vs Cleveland State (6 pm)
FGCU vs Kentucky (8:30 pm)

9/14-
Cleveland vs FGCU (1 pm)
Indiana vs UK (4 pm)

How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be available for all six matches. For the match against Indiana, it will be livestream audio only while the match against Kentucky will be livestream on the SEC/ESPN+ Network.

Fans can keep up with all the teams on Twitter:
FGCU: @FGCU_VB
Kentucky: @KentuckyVB
Indiana: @IndianaVB
Cleveland State: @ClevelandSt_VB

ESPN+:

The new, subscription-based digital platform ESPN+ will be the new home for select FGCU, A-SUN and other conferences 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 a $39.99 a year based on the viewers subscription choice.

Livestats Link:
vs Indiana: https://ukathletics.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
vs Kentucky: https://ukathletics.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
vs Cleveland St: https://ukathletics.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary

Audio Link vs Indiana: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/indiana/

Livestream Link @ Kentucky: https://www.espn.com/watch?id=dd9b9ab7-c43b-4454-aeb2-496df54ff049

FGCU WSOC @ Florida; vs Ball State Preview

The FGCU women's soccer team (2-2-0) is gearing up for a pair of matches against Florida (2-4-0) and Ball State (5-0-0). The Eagles will first travel up to Gainesville for a 6:30 p.m. tilt on Thursday, Sept. 12 against the Gators. That game will be streamed on the SECN+. Following the road trip, FGCU will return home to host the Cardinals at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 15 at the FGCU Soccer Complex. The home match will be streamed on YouTube Live.

The Green and Blue:
After dropping a pair of matches, FGCU earned its way back into the win column with a 2-0 shutout over Northeastern last Sunday (Sept. 8). Current MAC Hermann Trophy candidate senior Evdokia Popadinova netted her first goal of the season before sophomore Ashlee Brentlinger sealed the win with her second career goal. Popandinova's goal was her 15th in her career at FGCU and is two shy of passing

After her performance against the Huskies, Popadinova now ranks 10th all-time with 37 career points, while fellow senior Marjorie Boilesen checks in at sixth with 55 points.

Senior Melissa Weck (2-2) collected her second shutout of the season and now needs just 1.7 more career shutouts to stand alone at second in the FGCU record book.

The United Soccer Coaches have the Eagles ranked as the 10th team in the South Region poll. Of the teams ahead of the Green and Blue, three are nationally ranked and two are receiving votes.

Scouting Florida:
The match between the Eagles and the Gators will be the fifth in the history between the two programs, which is highlighted by a pair of NCAA Tournament games. FGCU faced off against Florida in the first round of both the 2011 and 2016 NCAA Tournaments. In both matches, the Gators downed the Eagles by a score of 3-0.

The Gators enter Thursday's contest with a four-match losing streak and have fallen out of the national rankings after receiving four votes last week. Florida dropped road games against No. 3 USC, No 5. UCLA, and No. 6 Florida State, as well as a home match against UCF, who received three votes in this week's poll. Both UCLA and UCF shut out the Gators entirely.

Junior Rose Deanne leads Florida's offense with three goals and one assist, good for seven points. So far, the Gators have netted seven goals from five different players, while just three players have tallied assists. Redshirt-junior Susi Espinoza has started in net for all six of Florida's games. The keeper has been scored on 10 times and her only shutout so far was a 2-0 shutout over a USF squad that is ranked 25th in the national poll.

This will be the second time this season that the Eagles have taken on an SEC opponent. On Aug. 25, FGCU hosted Auburn and dominated the first half of play before the game was cancelled due to weather. Overall, the Eagles are 4-8 against SEC programs.

Scouting Ball State:
Sunday's contest at the FGCU Soccer Complex will mark the first meeting between the teams. Though the Cardinals are not ranked nationally, they were tabbed eighth in this week's United Soccer Coaches Poll for the Midwest region, behind only Power-5 opponents.

Ball State will head to Fort Myers with a 16-match unbeaten streak that includes five wins this season. Last season, the Cardinals won nine-straight matches before a 1-1 draw against Bowling Green, who advanced on PK's 5-4, in the 2018 Mid-American Conference Tournament. This season, Ball State has picked up wins in all four of its home contests and most recently defeated Omaha 1-0 (Sept. 6) in its first road game of 2019.

Prior to taking on FGCU, the Cardinals are slated to take on FAU in a 7 p.m. match at the Owls' home stadium on Friday, Sept. 13.

This season, redshirt-senior Tristin Stuteville has started every game between the pipes for the Cardinals and has four shutouts. She has made allowed just one goal against 19 saves, good for a .950 save percentage. Ball State's offensive effort is led by sophomore Grace Alsop, who has found the back of the net four times and is credited with one game-winner. The team's strongest showing so far was a 6-0 victory over Eastern Illinois (Aug. 23), when Alsop netted a hat trick and three other Cardinals scored.