The main factor on defense was sophomore Dana Axner as she finished with 20 digs, three assists and an ace. Needing only 17 digs, Axner's 20 digs made her the seventh player in the program's history to reach 1,000 digs and now has 1,003 in her career. In addition, Axner became the youngest player in program history, the first to achieve the milestone as a sophomore in the Division I era and the second to do it in her first two seasons since Whitney Hendry (1,965, 2004-07)*.
"I've never seen anything like her," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "I've been at this for a long time and never coached a player quite like Dana. Her command of that position at such an early age is really something special. As a coach, you don't typically really get to enjoy what's happening with individual performances. You're looking from more of a tactical perspective, but it's hard not to watch the things Dana is doing out there and be impressed while the match is happening from my seat."
"I've never seen anything like her," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "I've been at this for a long time and never coached a player quite like Dana. Her command of that position at such an early age is really something special. As a coach, you don't typically really get to enjoy what's happening with individual performances. You're looking from more of a tactical perspective, but it's hard not to watch the things Dana is doing out there and be impressed while the match is happening from my seat."
It was redshirt senior Amanda Carroll that the Eagles offensively with a double-double of a match-high 10 kills and 14 digs. Carroll also added two assists, an ace and a block. With her 10 kills, Carroll has 1,447 in her career, while her one ace put her at 123 and 14 digs put her at 1,168 in her career. Carroll needs 14 to surpass Ana Kokanovic (139, 2007-08) as the all-time leader.
"Amanda played great," Botsford said. "She's had a few more opportunities recently to attack and you can see what it does because of her decision making, and that comes from experience. We know what she's capable of, so it's really nice to have that option out there, and when we've gotten a little bit error prone, we've called on Amanda to settle things down as an attacker. She's done exactly what we've needed from her."
Sophomore Tori Morris followed behind Carroll with seven kills and a block.
Sophomore Chelsea Lockey led the way with 35 assists to go along with her five kills, five digs and team-leading three blocks (one solo). With her 35 assists, Lockey now has 1,237 career assists and needs 168 to surpass Roberta Santos (1,475, 2007-08) for fifth all-time.
Four other Eagles joined Lockey with five kills each, freshmen Erin Shoemaker and Aja Jones and juniors Snowy Burnam and Cortney VanLiew. Shoemaker added four digs, Jones added two blocks, Burnam added four digs and VanLiew added five digs and three assists.
With her five Kills, Burnam now has 579 in her career and needs 21 to become the 15th Eagle to reach 600 career kills while needing 71 to surpass Jelena Simic (649, 2009, 2011) for 14th all-time. In addition, Burnam's four digs put her at 522 career digs and needs three to surpass Ingrid Felicio (524, 2004-05) for 18th all-time.
VanLiew's five kills put her at 1,091 in her career while her five digs put her at 682 as she surpassed Vanessa Benke (681, 2013-15) for 13th all-time. Her next milestone will be Chandra Lefever (765, 2006-07, 09) for 12th all-time.
Alleah Davis lead Bethune with a team-high five kills while Sterling Williamson and Jade Smith had four kills each and Ryleigh Taylor had 10 assists.
Defensively, Shayla Eugene had 14 digs, while Miranda White followed with 13.
Other Notes:
Botsford earned his 134th career win with the Eagles (375th overall), while longtime assistant coach Daniel Mahy earned his 286th career win (313th overall) and second year assistant coach Stephanie Zelinski earned her 74th.
Senior Giovanna Borgiotti added three kills, an ace, a block and a dig. Borgiotti's three kills put her at 540 career kills (17th all-time) and needs 33 to surpass Leigh Pudwill (572, 2015-16) for 16th all-time.
Senior Daniele Serrano played in only one set as she finished with two kills and a block as she was getting rest for the rest of the match. Serrano's two kills put her at 759 in her career and needs 41 to become the eighth Eagle to reach 800 career kills. Her next milestone in career kills is Ericka Fonseca (837, 2005-06) for seventh all-time. Her lone block put her at 431 in her career and needs five more to surpass UNF's Morgan Van Alstine (435, 2013-16) for second all-time in A-SUN history.
*Side Note: Hendry's first three seasons were when FGCU was a NCAA DII team.
Other A-SUN Scores:
Lipscomb (11-9, 7-2 A-SUN) defeated North Alabama 3-0 in Nashville. The Bison will face Stetson (7-11, 4-4 A-SUN) Sunday afternoon, October 27 at 2 pm. The Lions will welcome Kennesaw State (14-6, 7-1 A-SUN) Friday night, October 25 at 8 pm.
Up Next:
The Eagles return to A-SUN Conference play for the weekend as they travel to Jacksonville to take on Jacksonville (7-15, 3-5 A-SUN) Friday night, October 25 at 7 pm before traveling to Florence, Alabama to take on North Alabama (3-19, 1-8 A-SUN) Sunday afternoon at 1 pm.
A-SUN Standings:
1. FGCU (19-3, 7-1 A-SUN)
1. Kennesaw State (14-6, 7-1 A-SUN)
3. Lipscomb (11-9, 7-2 A-SUN)
4. Liberty (12-8, 5-3 A-SUN)
5. Stetson (7-11, 4-4 A-SUN)
6. North Florida (10-13, 3-5 A-SUN)
7. Jacksonville (7-15, 3-5 A-SUN)
8. North Alabama (3-19, 1-8 A-SUN
9. NJIT (1-22, 0-8 A-SUN)
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