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.
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