"It was a great road performance tonight, and it was really all kickstarted by the defense," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "Our team defense was outstanding in the first two sets, and we were really making UNF work on the offensive end to score points. The third set developed much differently and became about the attacking of both teams, but we stayed poised and made some great plays at the end of the set. We got another big night from Cortney and Dani on the offensive end and our passers were all really solid throughout."
"There are a lot of lessons we can take away from tonight," UNF head coach Kristen Wright said. "I think our nerves settled in sets two and three and we stuck to a game plan. FGCU is a good team and the lesson is that we have a young team and we are going to look like that someday soon. But, what a turn out tonight. We are so thankful for the fans who came out to support us. We're very grateful and the girls are eager to win in big matches in front of them, so stay with us."
The Eagles opened up a 7-1 lead early as senior Daniele Serrano produced a kill and two blocks. The lead stretched to eight a little later following a back row kill from Amanda Carroll.
FGCU eventually led 19-6 following an ace from junior Alayna Ryan and a double block from sophomore Tori Morris and junior Snowy Burnam. VanLiew tallied three of the Green and Blue's final seven points in the set via kills and finished with six in the frame.
UNF took its first lead at 6-5 in the second set, but VanLiew added another kill and sophomore Chelsey Lockey followed with one of her own for a 14-9 lead midway through. The Ospreys pulled within one at 16-15, but the Eagles went on a 6-1 run to take control. Serrano finished off the frame with a kill.
Despite many stoppages that produced a nearly 40 minute third set, FGCU persevered to finish the sweep. Back-to-back kills from Burnam and VanLiew gave FGCU an early 4-2 lead, although UNF fought back and took an 11-9 lead. Freshman Erin Shomaker, however, tacked on a kill to spur a 6-0 run and set up a back-and-forth finish.
UNF knotted the set at 20 apiece following a kill from senior Taryn Griffey, but Shomaker followed with another kill and a replay review confirmed a bad set from UNF. The Ospreys answered with a kill, but FGCU got back-to-back successful attacks from Shomaker and VanLiew. Burnam then closed the match with a kill from the left side.
VanLiew has now tallied double-digit kills in 14 straight and 15 of 16 overall this year. In A-SUN play, she is averaging 17 per contest overall, including 5.5 digs over the past two. Shomaker (9) and Serrano (6) combined to tack on 15 more kills, with Serrano producing at a .357 rate.
Lockey had 37 assists along with seven digs, while Dana Axner had a match-high 13 digs. In fact, she is now two digs shy of 900 in her career. Carroll and Burnam each added seven digs in addition to Lockey as six players tallied at least five.
Tori Morris had a match-high five block assists, while Burnam tallied three. Serrano, meanwhile, had a solo block along with her two block assists to tie Olivia Mesner's (62, 2011-14) program record for most solo swats in a career. Furthermore, she now has 415.0 total blocks in her three plus years on campus, which is seven shy of Campbell's Rachel Templin (422, 2003-06) for third most in A-SUN history. In addition, Serrano's six kills put her at 717 and is six shy of passing Jill Hopper (725, 2011-13) for eighth all-time.
Serrano and Carroll also each participated in their 114th career match, tying Mesner for seventh on the program's Division I era career list.
Notes:
Burnam's four kills put her at 535 in her career as she gained the lead over senior Giovanna Borgiotti (534 career kills). Burnam needs 38 to surpass Leigh Pudwill (572, 2015-16) for 15th all-time.
Next Up:
FGCU concludes its weekend jaunt with a 6 p.m. matchup against Stetson on Saturday night.
No comments:
Post a Comment