FGCU VB @ North Alabama Recap

Redshirt senior Amanda Carroll transitioned for sophomore Dana Axner as the libero as the FGCU volleyball team (21-3, 8-1 A-SUN) pulled away with another series sweep as they shutout North Alabama (3-21, 1-10 A-SUN) 3-0 (25-14, 25-6, 25-22). With the win, the Eagles are now 4-0 against the Lions.

The Green and Blue have won 11 straight matches and 16 straight sets, and their 21 wins is tied for fourth-most in the nation with Pittsburgh and South Dakota. Stephen F. Austin, Western Kentucky and Milwaukee are all tied for the most with 22 each. Following the match, the Eagles also learned they have moved into sole possession of first place in the ASUN standings with Kennesaw State's (15-7, 8-2) loss to North Florida.

Offensively, it was sophomore Tori Morris that led the Eagles this time as she finished with a career-high 10 kills to go along with a team-leading six blocks. Junior Cortney VanLiew followed with nine kills of her own to go along with an ace and two digs, while freshman Erin Shoemaker finished with seven kills, an ace and two blocks.

Sophomore Chelsea Lockey was two digs shy of a her sixth double-double of the season as she finished with 21 assists to go with her lone kill, lone block, two aces and eight digs.

Carroll finished with six aces to go along with her lone kill, three assists and two digs while junior Alayna Ryan, who rotated the libero position with Carroll, had seven digs, two assists and an ace.

Senior Daniele Serrano and junior Snowy Burnam finished with three blocks each. Serrano added four kills, while Burnam added three kills, an ace and four digs.

"Tori was outstanding today both offensively and with her blocking," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "I really liked how she asserted herself right from the start. Amanda and Alayna also did a nice job filling into the libero position."

Not one player from North Alabama had double digits figures in the stats. Offensively, freshman Anna Katherine Griggs had six kills while classmate Breylee Linder had nine assists and two aces. Defensively, freshman Mariana Trujillo had six digs while classmates Sarah-Elizabeth Williams had three blocks and four kills.

Notes:
Morris' six blocks were all block assists that put her at 129 in her career and tied Kaitlan Krivdo (129, 2015-19) for 15th all-time, while the total blocks put her at 144 in her career as she surpassed Krivdo (140, 2015-19) for 15th all-time. Morris needs one to surpass Krivdo to be 15th all-time in block assists and 10 blocks to surpass Roberta Santos (153, 2007-08) for 14th all-time in total blocks.

With her nine kills, VanLiew now has 1,100 career kills and needs 33 to surpass Olivia Mesner (1,132, 2011-14) for third all-time while her two digs put her at 692 and needs eight to become the 13th Eagle to reach 700 career digs.

Lockey's 21 assists put her at 1,258 and now needs 147 to surpass Roberta Santos (1,475, 2007-08) for fifth all-time.

Carroll's six aces tied her career-high and were the most since 2016 (vs Ohio 8/27/16) and put her at 132 in her career and needs eight to surpass Ana Kokanovic (139, 2007-08) as the all-time leader.

Serrano's three blocks pushed her passed UNF's Morgan Van Alstine (435, 2013-16) for second all-time in A-SUN history as she now has 438 in her career. Serrano will now be attempting to surpass ETSU's Meredith Hardy (474, 2010-13) as the all-time leader in total blocks, needing 37 to do so.

Meanwhile, Serrano's four kills put her at 768 and needs 32 more to become the eighth Eagle to reach 800 career kills and 70 shy of surpassing Ericka Fonseca (837, 2005-06) for seventh all-time.

Burnam's three kills put her at 589 in her career as is 11 shy of becoming the 15th Eagle to reach 600 career kills while needing 61 to surpass Jelena Simic (649, 2009, 2011) for 14th all-time. Meanwhile her four digs put her at 536 in her career and is 17 away from surpassing Jill Hopper (552, 2011-13) for 17th all-time.

Borgiotti's lone kill put her at 543 and needs 30 to surpass Leigh Pudwill (572, 2015-16) for 16th all-time.

Longtime assistant coach Daniel earned his 287th career win as a coach for the Eagles (314th overall) while second-year assistant coach Stephanie Zelinski earned her 75th.

Other A-SUN Scores:
Liberty (14-8, 7-3 A-SUN) defeated Jacksonville (7-17, 3-7 A-SUN) 3-1 in Jacksonville.

UNF (11-14, 4-6 A-SUN) did an impossible and upset Kennesaw State (15-7, 8-2 A-SUN) by a score of 3-1. The Kennesaw loss gave the Eagles sole possession of first place in the A-SUN. Kennesaw will return home to take on NJIT (1-24, 0-9 A-SUN) Tuesday morning, October 29 at 11 am.

Stetson (9-11, 6-4 A-SUN) pulled away with a nail-biting 3-2 victory over Lipscomb (11-10, 7-3 A-SUN). Both teams were on a six-match winning streak prior to the Stetson win. Stetson will be back in action in Deland Wednesday night, October 30 at 6 pm as they welcome Jacksonville, while Lipscomb will be back in action on Halloween in Lynchburg, Va to take on Liberty at 6 pm.

After the loss, North Alabama will be back in action in Jacksonville to take on Jacksonville on Halloween at 7 pm.

A-SUN Standings:
1. FGCU (21-3, 7-1 A-SUN)
1. Kennesaw State (15-8, 8-2 A-SUN)
3. Lipscomb (11-10, 7-3 A-SUN)
4. Liberty (14-8, 7-3 A-SUN)
5. Stetson (9-11, 6-4 A-SUN)
6. North Florida (11-14, 4-6 A-SUN)
7. Jacksonville (7-17, 3-7 A-SUN)
8. North Alabama (3-21, 1-10 A-SUN)
9. NJIT (1-24, 0-9 A-SUN)

Up Next:
The Eagles will return home for their final three home matches as they welcome Liberty (10/29), Stetson (11/1) and UNF (11/3) to the Alico Arena. The match vs Stetson will be dubbed as senior night for Carroll, Serrano and Borgiotti.

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