Junior Snowy Burnam had a match-high 11 kills as the FGCU volleyball team (26-4, 14-2 A-SUN) captured its second consecutive outright A-SUN regular season championship with a 25-17, 25-9, 25-13 win over NJIT (1-30, 0-15 A-SUN) in the Wellness and Events Center in Newark, New Jersey on Friday.
"That was a great way to end the regular season with a really nice performance on the road," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "While our blocking started a little slow, I was very impressed with the way the team adjusted after set one. Offensively, we were very clean, and I thought our hitters were making good decisions out there. To hit almost .500 also says a lot about the job Chelsey did. She is locating extremely well and putting her attackers in great spots."
With the win, the Eagles also set a new program record for regular season victories, topping the 2016 team's 25 wins, and they earned the top seed in the upcoming A-SUN tournament, where they'll get a chance to tie or break the overall single-season wins record of 27 following a quarterfinal round bye.
Burnam recorded her seventh double-digit kill performance of the season at a .588 clip. Redshirt senior Amanda Carroll added seven kills over eight attempts (.875), while five others hit at least .300 as the Eagles finished at a season-high .493 as a team offensively.
Not only was that hitting percentage a season-high, but it's the best any Green and Blue team has ever hit in an A-SUN match, as well as the top mark among any match in the program's Division I era.
Sophomore Chelsey Lockey assisted on 36 of FGCU's 38 kills while adding four digs and three block assists.
Defensively, Carroll had a team-high eight digs, while sophomore Dana Axner added six.
At the net, sophomore Tori Morris had a match-high six blocks, while freshman Erin Shomaker and senior Daniele Serrano added five apiece. Morris had three kills along with her block total.
Junior Cortney VanLiew also contributed to the win with six digs, five kills and two aces.
Notes:
FGCU is now 10-0 all-time against NJIT, and they haven't dropped a set along the way.
Burnam's 11 kills put her at 644 career kills and is six shy of surpassing Jelena Simic (649, 2009, 2011) for 14th all-time. Her two digs put her at 578 in her career while her one block, a block assist, was her 177th (165th career block assists) which surpassed Sharonda Pickering (176, 2017-18) for 10th all-time. Burnam needs 22 digs to become the 17th Eagle to reach 600 digs and 23 to surpass Christine Pinder (603, 2012-13) for 16th all-time. In blocking, Burnam needs three block assists to surpass Kaitlin Holm (167, 2011-13) for 10th all-time. Burnam's next milestone in total blocks is Devon Watts (195, 2004-05) for ninth all-time.
Lockey's 36 assists put her at 1,589 career assists and remains 220 shy of surpassing Laura Manovill (1,809, 2004-05) for fourth all-time.
Axner failed to record at least 10 digs for just the second time this year, snapping her streak at 21 straight. Depsite that, Axner's seven digs put her at 1,135 in her career. Carroll's eight digs put her at 1,224. Both are still competing to Brooke Youngquist-Sweat (1,369, 2004-07) for fourth all-time. Carroll's seven kills put her at 1,468 in her career and needs 32 to become the first Eagle to reach 1,500 career kills.
Serrano had the team's lone solo block and moved within three total blocks of passing Meredith Hardy (ETSU, 2010-13, 474.0) for the A-SUN's all-time career record. In addition, Serrano's four kills put her at 812 in her career and needs 26 to surpass Ericka Fonseca (837, 2005-06) for seventh all-time.
Morris' six blocks were all block assists and put her at 166 total blocks (146 block assists) which surpassed Elenora Kazarian (165, 2014-15) for 13th all-time. Morris needs seven block assists to Pickering (152, 2017-18) for 13th all-time.
VanLiew's five kills put her at 1,182 in her career, while her six digs put her at 738 in her career and remains 28 shy of surpassing Chandra Lefever (765, 2006-07, 09) for 12th all-time.
Senior Giovanna Borgiotti added three kills on the night and now has 548 in her career. Borgiotti needs 25 to surpass Leigh Pudwill (572, 2015-16) for 16th all-time.
Botsford earned his 141st career win with FGCU and 382nd overall. Longtime assistant coach Daniel Mahy earned his 292nd career win with the Eagles and 319th overall, while second-year assistant coach Stephanie Zelinski earned her 80th.
Other A-SUN Scores:
On Tuesday, Liberty (18-9, 11-4 A-SUN) shutout Stetson 3-0 on the road. The Lady Flames will return to action Sunday afternoon at home as they welcome Kennesaw State (11/17) for their final match of the season.
Kennesaw State (18-8, 11-3 A-SUN) shutout Jacksonville (10-19, 5-9 A-SUN) 3-0 in Jacksonville. The Dolphins will welcome Lipscomb Saturday night (11/16) for their final match of the season.
Lipscomb (13-12, 9-5 A-SUN) defeated UNF (14-16, 6-8 A-SUN) on the road. The Ospreys will travel to Florence, Alabama to face North Alabama Sunday afternoon (11/17) for their final match of the season.
Stetson (10-14, 7-7 A-SUN) defeated North Alabama (4-23, 2-12 A-SUN) 3-1 on the road. The Lady Hatters will travel to Newark to face NJIT.
A-SUN standings (as of post-match Friday)
*1. FGCU - 26-4, 14-2
*2. Kennesaw State - 18-8, 11-3
*3. Liberty - 18-9, 11-4
*4. Lipscomb - 13-12, 9-5
5. Stetson - 10-14, 7-7
6. North Florida - 14-16, 6-8
7. Jacksonville - 10-19, 5-9
8. North Alabama - 4-23, 2-12
9. NJIT - 1-30, 0-15
*clinched A-SUN tournament berth
Most Division I victories (as of post-match Friday)
1. Stephen F. Austin - 27
2. Western Kentucky - 27
3. FGCU - 26
4. South Dakota - 25
Pittsburgh - 25
Colorado State - 25
7. Robert Morris - 24
Towson - 24
9. 8 teams - 23
Up Next:
Once FGCU's potential semifinal round opponents are known, we'll post it at FGCUathletics.com on the volleyball schedule page, plus we'll announce it on our Twitter page (@fgcu_vb).
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