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
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