Bouncing back from their loss to Kennesaw, the FGCU volleyball team (25-4, 13-2 A-SUN) pulled away with their fifth sweep in A-SUN play as they shutout Lipscomb (13-11, 9-4 A-SUN) 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-14). With the win, the Eagles are now 11-16 against the Lady Bison and swept them in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history. In addition, the Eagles have clinched at least a share of the program's second straight A-SUN regular season championship.
"I'm really proud of this group for the way they competed and executed today," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "We got better each set defensively, and I thought our serving really picked up as well."
Offensively, junior Cortney VanLiew led the Eagles with 16 kills, an ace, an assist, seven digs and three blocks. Following VanLiew was freshman Erin Shoemaker as she finished with nine kills and three digs, while junior Snowy Burnam rounded out the lineup with seven kills, an ace, an assist, six digs and three blocks.
Sophomore Chelsea Lockey led all the Eagles with 36 assists, a kill, six digs and three blocks.
Senior Daniele Serrano and sophomores Tori Morris and Dana Axner led the Eagles defensively. Serrano led the all Eagles with seven blocks (two solo) to go with her four kills, while Morris finished with four blocks to go with her six kills. Axner finished with 21 digs, four assists and a career-high three aces.
Redshirt senior Amanda Carroll rounded out all the Eagles with three kills and nine digs.
"This group has been so steady all season," Botsford said. "I am happy to see them rewarded with a championship. They are a motivated group and have really worked hard to put themselves in this position. There is still work to do, and we are looking forward to getting back in the gym and find ways to improve ourselves even more."
The Green and Blue used two key runs to take control of the match. With Lipscomb leading 21-19 in the opening frame, FGCU got six straight points behind a pair of kills from VanLiew to take the early lead. Then, down 16-14 in the second set, the Eagles scored seven straight, highlighted by two blocks and a kill from Serrano. FGCU then scored six of seven and 14 of the first 20 points in the final set.
Notes:
With her 16 kills, VanLiew surpassed Brooke Youngquist-Sweat (1,173, 2004-07) for second all-time and now has 1,177 and will now be in a battle for the all-time leader with Carroll (1,461, 2015-present). Meanwhile in digs, VanLiew's seven digs put her at 732 in her career and remains 34 shy of surpassing Chandra Lefever (765, 2006-07, 09) for 12th all-time.
Burnam's seven kills put her at 633 and remains 17 shy of surpassing Jelena Simic (649, 2009, 2011) for 14th all-time. Meanwhile her six digs put her at 576 and remains 24 shy of becoming the 17th Eagle to reach 600 digs and 25 to surpass Christine Pinder (603, 2012-13) for 16th all-time. Her three blocks, all block assists, put her at 176 and needs one to surpass Sharonda Pickering (176, 2017-18) for 10th all-time. The three block assists put her at 164 in her career and needs two to surpass Kaitlin Holm (167, 2011-13) for 10th all-time.
Lockey's 36 assist put her at 1,553 in her career. Lockey's next milestone is Laura Manovill (1,809, 2004-05) for fourth all-time and needs 256 assists to do so.
Serrano's four kills put her at 808 in her career and 30 shy of surpassing Ericka Fonseca (837, 2005-06) for seventh all-time. Meanwhile, Serrano's seven blocks put her at 467 and needs eight to surpass ETSU's Meredith Hardy (474, 2010-13) as the all-time leader in total blocks in the A-SUN.
All of Morris' four blocks were block assists and she now has 140 in her career. In total blocks, Morris now has 160. She needs 13 block assists to surpass Pickering and is now in a neck-and-neck battle with Burnam. Meanwhile in total blocks, Morris needs six to surpass Elenora Kazarian (165, 2014-15) for 13th all-time.
Axner's 21 digs put her at 1,128 and remains in a neck-and-neck battle with Carroll, who has 1,216 career digs after her nine digs.
Botsford earned his 140th career win with the Eagles (381st overall), while longtime assistant coach Daniel Mahy earned his 291st win as a coach for the Eagles (318th overall) and second-year assistant coach Stephanie Zelinski earned her 79th.
Other A-SUN Scores:
North Alabama (4-23, 2-12 A-SUN) defeated NJIT (1-29, 0-14 A-SUN) in a nail-biting 3-2 win on Saturday, November 9 in Florence. The Lions will be back in action Friday night, November 15 remaining at home as they welcome Stetson.
Jacksonville (10-19, 5-9 A-SUN) defeated Bethune-Cookman (8-20, 5-7 MEAC) at home for their final non-conference match. The Dolphins will remain at home as they welcome Kennesaw State to Jacksonville.
Kennesaw State (18-8, 11-3 A-SUN) shutout Stetson (10-13, 7-6 A-SUN) 3-0 in Deland. The Lady Hatters be back in action at home as they welcome Liberty Friday night, November 15.
Liberty (17-9, 10-4 A-SUN) defeated UNF (14-16, 6-8 A-SUN) 3-1 in Jacksonville. The Ospreys will remain at home as they welcome Lipscomb Friday night, November 15.
Matches for Next Week:
11/12: Liberty vs Stetson 6 pm
11/15:
Kennesaw State vs Jacksonville 7 pm
Stetson vs North Alabama 8 pm
Lipscomb vs UNF 7 pm
11/16: Lipscomb vs Jacksonville 7 pm
11/17:
Kennesaw State vs Liberty 1 pm
UNF vs North Alabama 2 pm
Stetson vs NJIT 3 pm
Updated A-SUN Standings:
*1. FGCU (25-4, 13-2 A-SUN)
*2. Kennesaw State (18-8, 11-3 A-SUN)
*3. Liberty (17-9, 10-4 A-SUN)
*4. Lipscomb (13-11, 9-4 A-SUN)
5. Stetson (10-13, 7-6 A-SUN)
6. UNF (14-16, 6-8 A-SUN)
7. Jacksonville (10-19, 5-9 A-SUN)
8. North Alabama (4-23, 2-12 A-SUN)
9. NJIT (1-29, 0-14 A-SUN)
Up Next:
The Eagles will close out the regular season with one final road match as they travel to Newark, New Jersey to face NJIT at the NJIT Wellness and Events Center Friday night, November 15 at 6 pm before the start of the A-SUN Conference Volleyball Tournament (11/21-11/23). If the Eagles defeat NJIT, then they secure the A-SUN Regular Season Championship for the second straight year.
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