FGCU VB: Conference Tournament Champions Are...

The postseason has come to an end FGCU as they dropped the championship game to Kennesaw 0-3 (23-25, 22-25, 17-25). Both the Eagles (22-10) and the Owls (21-4) were trying to make their first national tournament appearance in both program's history. Both teams put up a good fight, but the Owls were the better team and I wish them best of luck in the tournament.

"I was really pleased with the way we came out and opened up the match," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "I thought the first set was really competitive and we were seeing some things we thought we could utilize and put us in position to win offensively."

"This is a feeling that as a coach you imagine, but until you get here it's hard to describe all the different emotions that are running through my mind. From the incredible amount of hard work that our players and staff have put into this thing, to all of the support staff that has sacrificed so much time to make our program better. I think about all of the alumni that were here tonight because they are big part of this too and the many alums who worked so hard to get this program to this moment," said Kennesaw head coach Keith Schunzel.

The A-SUN All-Tournament Team was announced shortly after the match.

Representing Kennesaw on the All-Tournament team were senior outside hitter and A-SUN First Team All-Conference member Anaiah Boyer (12 kills, one assist, four blocks and 13 digs), Senior setter and A-SUN Setter of the Year, A-SUN First Team All-Conference member, A-SUN All-Academic Team member and A-SUN Co-Scholar of the Year, Kristi Piedimonte (42 assists, five kills, one block and 11 digs), junior middle blocker and A-SUN First Team All-Conference member Liesl Engelbrecht (six kills, four blocks and one dig) and Senior libero Katarina Morton (21 digs, four assists and one ace). Boyner was also named All-Tournament Team MVP.

Representing FGCU were junior outside hitter and A-SUN First Team All-Conference member, A-SUN All-Academic Team member, A-SUN Co-Player of the Year, A-SUN Co-Scholar of the Year and CoSIDA Academic All-District recipient Amanda Carroll (15 kills and 15 digs) and A-SUN Freshman of the Year and A-SUN All-Freshman Team member Snowy Burnam (eight kills, one assist, five blocks and eight digs).

Junior outside hitter and A-SUN First Team All-Conference member and A-SUN Co-Player of the Year Carlyle Nusbaum of Lipscomb was also named on the All-Tournament Team, but I'm not sure if she was in attendance even if the tournament was hosted by Lipscomb.

With the win, Kennesaw not only won the conference tournament, but they have also earned an automatic bid for the national tournament and will represent the A-SUN.

FGCU, despite being runner-up for the second straight time, are strongly eligible to earn a possible chance to be in the return of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) after 22 years, as announced at the AVCA Convention. The NIVC is the volleyball version of the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).

History Lesson of NIVC:
The NIVC started in 1989 as a 20-team event and ended in 1995. The inaugural champion was the University of Wisconsin. The Badgers were also the last champions in the tournament before shutting down and being defunct.

The list of champions are listed:
1989 – Wisconsin
1990 – Houston
1991 – Kentucky
1992 – Washington State
1993 – Louisiana State
1994 – Cal-State Northridge
1995 – Wisconsin

The NIVC is simply like this:

1. 64 DI teams from all 32 conferences that did not get berths in the NCAA Tournament will be in line for their opportunity for the postseason.

2. Teams offered an automatic berth shall be the team that is the highest-finishing team in its conference’s regular-season standings, and not selected for the NCAA Tournament in which their overall record is not a criteria. There will, however, be a list of tiebreakers and other criteria involved.

3. The NIVC will give 32 at-large berths to the top teams available. Any team from a Division I conference, or a Division I independent team, will be considered.

NIVC Setup:
1. It is a single-elimination tournament that will feature 32 first-round matches, followed by 16 second-round matches, eight third-round matches, four quarterfinal games, two semifinal matches, and the championship. It's similar to the MNIT and WNIT in college basketball.

2. The 64-team field will be announced late Sunday, November 26, 2017. The first round will start Tuesday, November 28, with the event ending Tuesday, December 12.

FGCU is more than likely a strong candidate to be in the NIVC, so anything can happen.

FGCU VB: Tournament Update 2

With the tournament in tact, two teams remain in the tournament and will go toe-to-toe in championship: No. 1 Kennesaw State and No. 3 FGCU. The Owls (20-4) managed to defeat and eliminate host and defending champions Lipscomb (16-13) 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-19, 25-23) and enter into their second conference championship match in program history (first: 2015).

Senior outside hitter and A-SUN First Team All-Conference member Anaiah Boyer had a double-double of 16 kills and 20 digs. The Lithia Springs native also added four blocks and one assist for the match.

Senior A-SUN Setter of the Year, A-SUN First Team All-Conference member, A-SUN All-Academic Team member and A-SUN Co-Scholar of the Year, Kristi Piedimonte, had 37 assists, three kills, two aces, seven blocks and eight digs.

Senior libero Katarina Morton had three assists and 12 digs.

The Owls had a total of 42 total blocks. The duo of junior middle blocker and A-SUN First Team All-Conference member, Liesl Engelbrecht, and senior middle blocker Rachel Taylor had 10 blocks assists each. Engelbrect added seven kills, one solo block and five digs while Taylor added three kills, one assist and two digs.

A-SUN All-Freshman Team member Lauren Chastang added eight kills, five blocks and one dig while junior outside hitter and A-SUN Second Team All-Conference member Sydni Shelton added seven kills, five blocks and one dig of her own.

For Lipscomb, despite it being the end of their season, junior outside hitter and A-SUN First Team All-Conference member and A-SUN Co-Player of the Year Carlyle Nusbaum had a double-double of 26 kills and 11 digs. The Overland Park native also added an ace and four blocks to the mix.

Sophomore setter and A-SUN All-Academic Team member Morgan Elmore had 54 assists, one block and six digs.

Junior outside hitter Lauren Anderson had seven kills, two aces, one block and 21 digs.

Senior libero and A-SUN All-Academic Team member Brittany Thomas added four assists and 21 digs.

Junior middle blocker Ca'Layci Coffey had six kills and six blocks and sophomore middle blocker Maddie Phillips had nine kills and two digs.

"I was extremely proud of our girls tonight, said Lipscomb head coach Brandon Rosenthal. "All year long we've challenged our girls to give it everything they had and tonight we saw that. This was a great match, definitely a championship-caliber match, and our girls rose to the occasion."

"That was a championship level match against a program with a lot of tradition. I'm really proud how we stayed composed and pulled out a tight fourth set. Obviously, we have another huge one tomorrow," said Kennesaw head coach Keith Schunzel.

After splitting the series 1-1 during the season, the Eagles (22-9) had no problem taming the Dolphins (18-10) in the grudge match as they implied a 3-0 shutout (25-20, 26-24, 25-21) to advance to the championship for the third time and the second straight year in their program's history (2009, 2016).

"I think it looked a little bit like yesterday where there was a gradual improvement from set to set," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "A lot of positive things. Snowy was fantastic and Amanda did a great job coming through attacking wise. I think our blocking and our serving dictated a lot of the match. That's a good foundation to build on, but we're going to have to be super aggressive tomorrow to be in a position to get an automatic bid to the tournament."

"I'm sad to see the season end. I am heartbroken for the team in how we ended, but I am so proud of the season we had," stated JU Head Coach Julie Darty. "We accomplished so much this season, and I think there are a lot of things we can build off of. We are still so young in a lot of positions, so I think this was about growing up. We grew up tonight."

After a tough matchup in the quarterfinals by getting only one kill, junior outside hitter and A-SUN First Team All-Conference and A-SUN All-Academic Team member, A-SUN Co-Player and Co-Scholar of the Year, and CoSIDA Academic All-District recipient, Amanda Carroll, bounced back offensively with a double-double of 18 kills and 17 digs. The Albuquerque native also added one assist, one ace and three blocks.

A-SUN Freshman of the Year and A-SUN All-Freshman Team member Snowy Burnam also produced a double-double of 13 kills and 11 digs. The Palm City native also added seven blocks for the game.

Junior setter, A-SUN Second Team All-Conference member and A-SUN All-Academic Team member, Maggie Rick, had 34 assists along with two kills, two aces, two blocks and eight digs.

Senior defensive specialist Courtney Stephens had 12 digs, two aces and two assists while junior libero Karissa Rhoades had 10, four assists and two aces.

Sophomore middle blocker and A-SUN First Team All-Conference member Dani Serrano had only one kill, but managed to get six blocks and one dig.

Other players that contributed to the match were junior right side hitter Kaiti Krivdo, freshman defensive specialist Alayna Ryan, sophomore outside hitter Giovanna Borgiotti and A-SUN All-Freshman Team member Cortney VanLiew.

Krivdo had four kills, six blocks and three digs, Ryan added one assist and two blocks, Borgiotti had three kills and two digs and VanLiew had five kills, one assist and two digs.

For Jacksonville, sophomore middle blocker and A-SUN Second Team All-Conference member Amarrah Cooks led the team with 13 kills and added four blocks.

"Amarrah was unreal tonight; I have never seen her play with so much fire. Alleah was trying to get her as many balls as possible because she was unstoppable," credited Darty

Sophomore setter and A-SUN Second Team All-Conference member Alleah Stamatis had 36 assists along with two kills, four blocks and six digs.

Senior libero, A-SUN Defensive Player of the Year and A-SUN First Team All-Conference member Mackenzie Swan had 22 digs.

Senior middle blocker and A-SUN Second Team All-Conference member Olga Nushtayeva had six kills, one ace, three blocks and two digs.

Sophomore outside hitter and A-SUN First Team All-Conference member Mallory Mattingly was one kill shy of a double-double and finished with nine kills, one assist, one block and 16 digs.

Other players that contributed for the Dolphins' last match included senior outside hitter Cristina Finan (five kills, one assist, one ace, one block and 10 digs), senior middle blocker Jessica Armstrong (six kills and two blocks) and outside hitter and A-SUN All-Freshman Team Kendall Murr (11 digs).

"These girls will remember this feeling; we will learn from this," added Darty. "I'm still so proud of this group – no gym and a lot of setbacks, but also a huge amount of success. We will be better for it."

With Lipscomb out, a new champion will be named on Saturday November 18. Not only will the winning team win the tournament, but they will also earn an automatic bid in the national tournament and represent the A-SUN Conference.

FGCU Volleyball: Award Winners and Conference Tournament Opener

After another successful season, the FGCU Volleyball is now focusing on their next task at hand: The A-SUN Conference Tournament. The Eagles enter into the tournament as the No. 3 seed, and face No. 6 seeded USC Upstate in the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Before the matchup, the A-SUN Conference announced the winners of awards and members of honorable mentions.

Junior outside hitter Amanda Carroll was named A-SUN Co-Player of the Year with Lipscomb's Carlyle Nusbaum while freshman outside hitter Snowy Burnam was named A-SUN Freshman of the Year.

On the A-SUN All-Conference First Team, Carroll and sophomore middle blocker Daniele Serrano were selected to the team. Carroll was a unanimous selection.

Junior setter Maggie Rick was named a member of the A-SUN All-Conference Second team.

Burnam, along with fellow freshman outside hitter Cortney VanLiew, were named members of the A-SUN All-Freshman Team.

In addition, Carroll and Rick were named members of the A-SUN All-Academic Team. Carroll was also named A-SUN Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year with Kennesaw's Kristi Piedimonte and a College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District recipient.

The history between FGCU and Upstate remains with the Eagles having the upper hand in the series between the two teams: FGCU is 19-0 against Upstate including the two wins in the season prior to the quarterfinals

Fast forward to the quarterfinals, No. 4 seed Lipscomb played earlier against No. 5 seed UNF and won with a 3-0 shutout. With their win, the Lady Bison will face the No. 1 seed Kennesaw State.

“You first have to give credit to our girls as far as understanding what was laid in front of them and then going out and getting after it,” Lipscomb head coach Brandon Rosenthal said. “I couldn’t be more proud from top to bottom. Our defense was just absolutely tremendous tonight. We created a lot of havoc and the attention to detail and the discipline was superb."

"I thought Lipscomb played really well and put a lot of pressure on our passers. We weren't able to find any offensive rhythm. Even though things didn't go our way, we continued to battle. I am proud of the seniors and their contributions to our Osprey family," said UNF head coach Steve Loeswick.

After the match, FGCU (22-8, 10-4 A-SUN) defeated Upstate (8-21, 4-10 ASUN) 3-0. This was the seventh time the Eagles have made it to the semifinals.

"I don't think the first set was as clean as we would have liked," head coach Matt Botsford said.  "We had a different line up limiting Amanda to manage the amount of the time she was jumping and it took some time for that to gel, but I think we really took off heading into the second set. We continued to improve throughout, but I liked it, and I liked the way our girls picked it up. I thought Gio was terrific tonight. She blocked great, attacked well and had a real calming influence in out of system scenarios."

It was freshman outside hitter Snowy Burnam who took the reins offensively. The Palm City native that was named A-SUN Freshman of the Year was one dig shy of a double-double, but finished with 12 kills, nine digs, two assists, three blocks and an ace.

Sophomore outside hitter Giovanna Borgiotti had 11 kills, three blocks and two digs.

Junior setter Maggie Rick had a double-double of 35 assists and 13 digs. The Alpharetta, Georgia native who was named a A-SUN All-Conference Second Team member also added four kills to the mix.

Serrano had eight kills, one dig and one block.

Junior libero Karissa Rhoades had 19 digs, six assists and an ace.

Offensively, Carroll did not have her best game as she only had one kill, but defensively, the Albuquerque native had 20 digs, one block and two aces.

Lone senior defensive specialist Courtney Stephens had six digs, one assist and two aces.

Junior right side hitter Kaiti Krivdo had four kills and six blocks.

Other players that contributed to the match included freshman outside hitter Cortney VanLiew and freshman defensive specialist Alayna Ryan. VanLiew had five kills and one block while Ryan added one dig to the mix.

With the win, FGCU is now 20-0 overall against Upstate and will face No. 2 seed JU in the semifinals. The winner of that match will face the winner between No. 1 seed Kennesaw and No. 4 seed, host and defending champion Lipscomb.

FGCU VB Lipscomb Recap: Senior Moment

So enlighten of the regular season for the FGCU volleyball team coming to a close, the Eagles took the time to recognize their lone senior on the team: libero Courtney Stephens. The Winter Park native has played under head coach Matt Botsford since his inaugural season in 2014 and throughout her whole career has made such an impact for the team. In all four season, Stephens was one of five Eagles to reach 1,000 or more career digs and remains in the top five in career digs while also having 87 career service aces. With her mother, Chrissy, accompanying her and meet in the middle with Botsford, athletic director Ken Kavanagh and assistant coaches Kim Maroon and Daniel Mahy, the lone senior was recognized for her hard work.

"I'm pretty proud of myself," Stephens said. "The circumstances I came into this program under with a new coach and everything. I felt like I adjusted really well. I'm proud of myself. The coaches always pushed me. It's super weird. I've played this sport for 14 years. I'm feeling a little sad finally. The grind always kind of gets to you, but I'm going to miss it."

Shockingly, Lipscomb, who are the defending A-SUN Conference Tournament champions, are currently the No. 4 seed in the conference and although it was senior night for Stephens, three of Lipscomb's players that were seniors were also recognized: defensive specialist Jenny Phelan, libero Brittany Thomas and right side hitter Chloe Rogers.

Fast forward to the match against Lipscomb. Now overall in the series against the Lady Bison, FGCU is 6-16 against Lipscomb. Earlier in the season, FGCU beat Lipscomb 3-1 at Lipscomb and hoping to sweep this season's series against the Lady Bison for the first time since 2012.

For the starting lineup for FGCU, it was junior Karissa Rhoades (libero), sophomore Daniele Serrano (middle blocker), junior Maggie Rick (setter), junior Kaiti Krivdo (right side hitter), freshman Snowy Burnam (outside hitter) Stephens (defensive specialist) and junior Amanda Carroll (outside hitter).

In the end, FGCU shutout Lipscomb 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-22). With the win, as well as the previous win at Lipscomb, the Eagles swept the series over the Lady Bison for the first time since 2012 and are now 7-17 overall against Lipscomb.

Carroll led the charge offensively. The Albuquerque native had 14 kills, three blocks (two solo blocks, one block assist), eight digs and four aces.

Serrano had six kills, four block assists and one dig.

Rick, after having a season high 60 assists against Upstate, had 32 along with two aces, four block assists and one dig.

Krivdo, despite having only two kills, had seven blocks and one dig while Burnam had six kills five block assists and eight digs. Burnam snapped her streak of getting 10 or more kills after five matches.

Rhoades had one assist and 16 digs.

Stephens finished with nine digs and one assist for her senior night.

Off the bench, freshman outside hitter Cortney VanLiew had eight kills and one dig while freshman defensive specialist Alayna Ryan had one assist, one dig and one ace.

"The best stretches throughout season have been fueled by our defense, both at the net and behind it," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "And if you look at the stats and the way the game was unfolding, both teams were defending extremely well. It was hard to come by kills. So it was imperative that we keep up with what they were doing on the defensive end and we did exactly that. I was so impressed from the defensive perspective. It started with effort and we saw it this week in practice. We made it a point of emphasis, and I love the way they came out and executed."

For Lipscomb, junior outside hitter Carlyle Nusbaum had a team-leading 17 kills, two blocks and seven digs.

Thomas had one assist and 16 digs.

Sophomore setter Morgan Elmore had one kill, one block assist, six digs and 37 assists.

“I thought we competed in stretches tonight, but unfortunately there were also some times where we were unable to make a play here or there that cost us sets,” Lipscomb head coach Brandon Rosenthal said.

“It wasn’t a bad match, but it certainly wasn’t a good one. I would have liked to see us carry over that momentum from last weekend.”

All in all, Courtney Stephens' night was one thrill of a lifetime for her. Below is a picture with me and her with a poster I made for her senior night:

FGCU Volleyball vs NJIT Recap

After a rough two game road trip losing to UNF and JU, the FGCU volleyball team (18-8, 8-3 A-SUN) managed to bounce back and recover by shutting out NJIT (11-17, 1-10 A-SUN) 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-21). The Eagles still maintain being in the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed, but that could change and they could possibly get the No. 1 or No. 2 seed, but the No. 1 seed will be tricky.

If FGCU wins the three remaining matches and either Kennesaw or JU lose any of their matches, including facing each other, FGCU could get at least the No. 2 seed and a first round bye in the conference tournament.

Fast forward to the match against NJIT, FGCU once again swept the series against the Highlanders and are now 6-0 overall.

"I was really pleased with our performance, especially because of the team's response to a new lineup," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "They stayed poised, and I thought those first two sets were really encouraging. We got a little loose attacking in the third, but the floor defense was much improved in that set, which allowed us to close it out.

Shockingly, junior outside hitter Amanda Carroll did not play, but returning to the lineup after being sidelined with an injury was sophomore outside hitter Giovanna "Gio-Gio" Borgiotti. The Vienna, Virginia native had a game-high and season-high 14 kills along with one assist, two blocks and three digs.

Junior setter Maggie Rick had one kill, one service ace, one block and four digs to go with her 42 assists.

Freshman outside hitter Snowy Burnam was one dig shy of a double-double, but finished with 10 kills, nine digs and one block. This was Burnam's fourth straight match with at least 10 kills.

Defensively, junior libero Karissa Rhoades had one assist to go with the 11 digs she produced while junior right side hitter Kaiti Krivdo and freshman outside hitter Cortney VanLiew. Krivdo had five blocks to go along with the nine kills and one dig she contributed to while VanLiew had four blocks to go with the eight kills and one dig she contributed.

"Kaiti and Snowy played great tonight and both continue to improve with every opportunity they get. Getting Gio back was a big plus, too. I thought she responded well after a pretty lengthy layoff," added Botsford.

Senior libero Courtney Stephens also also contributed with one assist and three digs. Recently, the lone senior from Winter Park reached 1,000 career digs in the match against UNF and currently has 1,018 career digs.

For the Highlanders, senior outside hitter Tess Albyn had 10 kills, one assist, one block and four digs. Sophomore setter Liz Benson had 25 assists along with three kills, one ace, one block and six digs

No players had double digits in digs. The highest amount of digs was seven from sophomore libero Olivia Welsch.

FGCU now has a total of 117 shutout wins since joining NCAA DI in 2007.

Up next, the Eagles will travel to Spartanburg, South Carolina to take on USC Upstate and wrap up their final road match of the season before coming back home to finish the regular season with two matches against Lipscomb and Kennesaw.

FGCU VB vs. Stetson Recap: Match 2

Junior Amanda Carroll produced a double-double as the FGCU volleyball team  (17-6, 7-1 A-SUN swept Stetson (3-17, 2-6 A-SUN) 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-19) in Alico Arena on Saturday.

In doing so, the Eagles have now won eight straight matches and 22 straight sets. The latter is the second longest streak in the NCAA Division I era for FGCU since the 2007 team won 30 straight sets. The win also keeps the Eagles in a three-way tie atop the A-SUN standings with Kennesaw State and Jacksonville.

"The first set wasn't particularly clean," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "We had a few too many errors and kept it pretty close. We couldn't get any easy points off them. Overall, though, I thought the response after set one was much closer to what we would have imagined and the direction we want to be playing."

Carroll, the A-SUN's leader in points, recorded a game-high 17 kills while hitting .400 and adding 11 digs, two assists, one solo block and one block assist. It was her 10th double-double of the season and the 36th of her career. She also now has double-digit kills in all but three matches this season. Already the program's all-time kills and points leader, Carroll had 35 attacks on Saturday to pass Brooke Youngquist Sweat (3,139, 2004-07) for most in a career. She now has 3,147.

Freshman Snowy Burnam finished second on the team with a season-high 12 kills while hitting .429, adding three digs and picking up her first match with double-digit kills since Oct. 6 against USC Upstate.

Redshirt freshman Ciara DeBell finished third on the team in kills with seven. DeBell had a breakout match by hitting .545 and tallying two more kills than she has the entire season so far.

Sophomore Daniele Serrano, who leads the A-SUN in hitting percentage, added six kills, a game-high three block assists and two digs.

"It was mainly just a bunch of fun," DeBell said of her breakout match. "I missed it. It was one of the first games where I've been able to stay in. I started the third set, and stayed in the whole game. It gave me a flashback of last year."

Junior Maggie Rick, meanwhile was a big reason for the 53 kills and .353 hitting percentage that FGCU produced as a team. The junior setter tallied 44 assists along with four digs, three kills and two block assists. Her assist total tied her output on Sept. 1 vs UCF for her fourth most in a match this year.

Defensively, junior Karissa Rhoades had a game-high 17 digs along with four assists. During the team's current winning streak, she has produced double digit digs in every match, and she's now averaging 20 digs per match against Stetson this year.

Senior Courtney Stephens added nine digs to finish third on the team. She now needs just 14 more to become the fifth player in program history to record 1,000 digs in her career.

On top of that, every player for FGCU recorded at least one dig, including freshmen Cortney VanLiew with five and Alayna Ryan with two and junior Sharonda Pickering with one.

"Our floor defense was great," Botsford said. "I thought it was a little more challenging than it should of been because I didn't think our net defense was very good. (Stetson) got through a lot of holes. I thought we were pretty sloppy up front and to get those dig numbers behind a block like that is a testament to the reads Karissa was making. Courtney Stephens the same way and, of course, Amanda always has great instincts back there."

Junior Kaitlan Krivdo also contributed to the win with four kills and three digs.

FGCU's defense held the Hatters to a .173 hitting percentage. Stetson is now 0-17 this year when losing that statistic. On the flip side, they've won every match when it's in their favor.

The Eagles are now 19-2 all-time against Stetson, including a 9-1 record at home. The Eagles have won nine straight in the series, including the past four in straight sets, and Saturday's win gives FGCU a season sweep of the Hatters.

The Eagles will now play four straight on the road beginning with next weekend's matches against North Florida on Friday at 7 p.m. and Jacksonville on Saturday at 6 p.m. After closing the road trip against NJIT and USC Upstate the following weekend, FGCU will finish the regular season at home on Nov. 10-11 against Lipscomb and Kennesaw State.

Saturday's match concluded alumni weekend for the FGCU volleyball program. There was a dinner with all the attending alumni on Friday evening and then on Saturday, there was an alumni match at 11 a.m. and a tailgate prior to the match. The alumni were also recognized and honored between the second and third sets of the win over Stetson.

FGCU VB vs UNF Recap

In spite of a lesser crowd than last night's game against JU, the FGCU volleyball took it to a new level by playing UNF. The Eagles (15-6. 6-1 ASUN) shut out the Ospreys (8-15, 1-6 A-SUN) 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-14)

Offensively, the duo of junior outside hitter Amanda Carroll and freshman outside hitter Cortney VanLiew led the charge. Carroll had 16 kills, two blocks and seven digs while VanLiew had 11 kills, one ace, two blocks and eight digs.

Junior setter Maggie Rick had three kills, one ace and six digs to go with her 30 assists.

Defensively, the duo of junior middle blocker Kaiti Krivdo and freshman outside hitter Snowy Burnam took the reins. Krivdo and Burnam each had three kills. Krivdo added seven blocks while Burnam added six blocks and four digs.

Junior libero Karissa Rhoades had five assists and 10 digs.

Lone senior defensive specialist Courtney Stephens had two aces and five digs.

Sophomore middle blocker Dani Serrano and freshman defensive specialist Alayna Ryan also contributed in the game. Serrano had two kills, three blocks and a dig while Ryan added one assist and one dig to the mix.

"I was really pleased with the bounce back offensively," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "Each set, we played a little bit smoother, a little bit cleaner. We wanted to manage the game. I thought the left sides took the lead on that. We didn't get the result we wanted to in terms of our numbers from the left side yesterday, and it was completely different today. I thought they created a lot more opportunities for themselves, so that was nice to see."

For UNF, no player got 10 or more kills.

Freshman middle blocker Devyn Wheeler and sophomore middle blocker Taryn Griffey had eight kills each. Wheeler added three digs while Griffey added one block and one dig.

Senior setter Carinne Turner had six digs and 17 assists.

Junior defensive specialist Ashley LaBorde had one assist and 14 digs.

Senior outside hitter Katarina Raicevic had six kills, one assist, three aces, one block and one dig.

With the shutout, FGCU has shutout their opponents 114 times since being in D1 in 2007.

During the matchup at the same time, Kennesaw and JU won their games as well. KSU beat NJIT 3-0 while JU beat Stetson 3-1. Also, Lipscomb beat Upstate 3-0.

Up Next:
FGCU will play return with one final non-conference match at home against Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday at 6 pm before returning to conference play facing Stetson and then hitting the road to face UNF, JU, NJIT and Upstate to wrap up their final road games.

FGCU VB vs JU Recap

After a a lot of hype in front of almost 800 people, the FGCU volleyball team took the roll of the dice against JU and it paid off with success. The Eagles (14-6, 5-1 A-SUN) beat the Dolphins (11-8, 5-1 A-SUN) 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-20). This game was a battle for first place in the A-SUN Conference, and with the win, FGCU ties JU for first place, but at the same time as the Eagles/Dolphins match, Kennesaw State beat USC Upstate 3-0, so as of now, FGCU, KSU and JU are in a three-way tie for first place in conference.

Offensively, freshman outside hitter Cortney VanLiew led the team with a double-double of 12 kills and 13 digs. VanLiew also added one assist and three blocks to the mix.

Junior outside hitter Amanda Carroll had eight kills, snapping her streak of 10+ kills. Carroll, however, did have an assist, three blocks and 13 digs. With the eight kills, Carroll now has a career total of 1,193 kills.

Junior setter Maggie Rick had one kill, one ace, six digs and a block to go with her 27 assists.

Sophomore middle blocker Daniele Serrano had seven kills, two digs and a team-leading seven blocks in the game.

Junior libero Karissa Rhoades had 12 digs and four assists.

Senior defensive specialist Courtney Stephens had one ace, two assists and eight digs.

Junior middle blocker Kaiti Krivdo had six kills and three blocks.

Freshman outside hitter Snowy Burnam had three kills, three blocks and three digs.

From the bench, freshman Alayna Ryan contributed with one ace and an assist while redshirt freshman Ciara DeBell added two digs to the mix.

"Offensively, we were not our typical selves and that has a lot to do with how Jacksonville was defending us," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "I thought (Jacksonville) did a great job, but I was really pleased to see us match that level of intensity. The blocking set the tone, and I thought the defense behind it really complemented that block. Hopefully we can continue to play that way. Winning when the offense is not exactly where we want it is a step in the right direction."

For the Dolphins, sophomore Mallory Mattingly led the team with a double-double of 13 kills and 12 digs. Mattingly also added two aces and a block.

Sophomore setter Alleah Stamatis had three kills, a block and five digs to go with her 24 assists.

Senior libero Mackenzie Swan had 19 digs, two assists and an ace.

Sophomore outside hitter Natalie Wehner had seven kills, one assist, three aces, a block and nine digs.

"Tonight was a tough night, but this is something we can look back on and learn a lot from," said Head Coach Julie Darty. "We just didn't get it done, offensively or defensively, and when you can't follow a game plan and execute it, you let the other team take over and control the match."

"We made some good adjustments, but we just really were not sharp tonight. It felt like we were a little shell-shocked and FGCU did a nice job of making us very uncomfortable. I am hopeful that we can learn from this loss and get better as a team."

The Eagles outlasted the Dolphins in points (52-41), kills (37-30), blocks (12-5), assists (36-28) and digs (59-56) while the dolphins led the match in aces (6-3).

UNF, FGCU's next scheduled opponent, won their first conference game against Stetson 3-2.

The conference are as shown below with conference record first and overall record next:

Kennesaw State 5-1, 11-4
FGCU 5-1, 14-6
Jacksonville 5-1, 11 -8
Lipscomb 3-3, 10-9
USC Upstate 2-4, 5-14
Stetson 2-4, 3-15
NJIT 1-5, 10-12
North Florida 1-5, 8-14

FGCU VB vs. Bethune-Cookman Recap: Match 2

The FGCU volleyball team (16-6) won their seventh straight match as they swept Bethune-Cookman (8-9) 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-18) at home. With the win, the Eagles are now 12-0 against the Wildcats and have swept the season series for their final non-conference match.

Beginning with set one, junior Amanda Carroll began with a quick kill to put the Eagles up 1-0. Fellow junior Karissa Rhoades would follow with a service ace before an attack error from junior Kaiti Krivdo put the Wildcats on the board.

The Eagles would add two more points on the board after a kill from junior Maggie Rick and a Wildcat attack error from senior Alondra Bautista made it 4-1 FGCU before senior Jessica Emile would get a kill to make it 4-2 FGCU.

The Eagles would score three more points after a kill from Carroll, an attack error from freshman Jordan Jefferson, and a block from freshman Cortney VanLiew to Bautista before the Wildcats called for a timeout.

After the timeout, freshman Faith Landreneaux got a kill for the Wildcats, but the Eagles would score three more straight points from a VanLiew kill, a ball-handling error from senior Phelan Clark and a Landreneaux attack error before Bautista added a kill to the Wildcats board.

With the score 10-4 in favor of the Eagles, Landreneaux would cause a serving error before a kill from VanLiew made it 12-4 Eagles. The Wildcats would get another point from a Bautista kils before back-to-back kill from Serrano and Carroll and a Bautista attack error made it 15-5 FGCU.

The Wildcats would get another point after a serving error from VanLiew, but after a VanLiew kill and a block from Carroll and Krivdo gave the Eagles a 17-6 lead before Bethune called their final timeout of the set. 

The Wildcats would get two points after the timeout from an Emile kill and an attack error from Carroll, but a Carroll kill and a Jefferson attack error put the Eagles up 19-8 before VanLiew made an attack error to make 19-9. The Eagles would add three more points after a Carroll kill and two attack errors from Bautista and sophomore Alana Handy, but the Wildcats would finally get into double digits after back-to-back kills from Handy and Landreneaux, but it would have little effect for the Eagles as they claimed the first set with back-to-back from Carroll and Krivdo and an attack error from Handy.

Going into the second set, Emile would get two Wildcat kills while Carroll got an Eagle kill, but freshman Snowy Burnam would tie the game with a kill and an attack error gave the Eagles a one point lead before a Rick service error tied the match back up to 3-3.

After a back and forth battle of kills between Carroll and Clark,back-to-back Eagle kills from VanLiew and Serrano gave the Eagles a two point lead before a Landreneaux kill cut the lead to 6-5.

After back and forth kills from Emile and Serrano and a Clark ball handling error, the Wildcats would cut the score by one after a Carroll attack error and another Emile kill. After a serving error from Landreneaux, Emile would cut the score to one yet again, but the Eagles would score three more straight points after a Krivdo kill, an attack error from junior Meraiah Hill and another Clark ball handling error before a Handy kill cut the deficit to three.

After a back and forth showing of kills from Burnam and Bautista, the Eagles took advantage of back-to-back Wildcat attack errors from senior Rechez Lindsay and Bautista. After a service error from freshman Alayna Ryan, the Eagles would recover and score five straight points after two kills from Serrano, a kill from Rick and two service aces from lone senior Courtney Stephens before a Wildcat timeout. After a Stephens service error gave the Wildcats another point, and back and forth kills from Serrano and Handy occurred, Carroll would get two straight kills to make it 24-14 FGCU. After a Rhoades service error, Krivdo would secure the match point for the Eagles.

Going into the third and final set, the Eagles would get a quick 2-0 lead after a block from Serrano and a kill from VanLiew. After a Handy kill, junior Sharonda Pickering would get a kill of her own before a Rick serving error and kill occurred to make it 4-2. After back and forth errors from redshirt freshman Ciara DeBell and Handy, Bautista would get a kill to cut the score to 5-4,  but the Eagles would answer back with four straight points after a service error from Lindsay, and a block and two kills from Serrano and a Handy ball handling error before a Bethune timeout.

The Wildcats would take advantage for three straight points after a Stephens serving error, a kill from Landreneaux and an attack error from Burnam, but the Eagles would counter back with five straight points from a Clark serving error, a Bautista attack error, two kills from Serrano and a kill from VanLiew.

After another Emile kill, VanLiew would get two back and forth kills while countering an attack error in between. The Wildcats would then score four straight points after two kills from Jefferson, a kill from Clark and a VanLiew attack error, but the Eagles would counter and score three straight points after back-to-back kills from DeBell and Burnam and a service ace from Ryan to make it 20-13 FGCU.

The Wildcats would three more straight points after kills from freshman Tynesha Adams and Bautista and a Burnam attack error. After a kill from Serrano and another ace from Stephens, Serrano would then make an attack error before Rick and Serrano made back-to-back kills to set up match point for the Eagles. After a Carroll service error to make it 24-18 FGCU, Serrano would seal the deal with a final Eagle kill for the match.

 Serrano lead the way with 14 kills, two blocks, and one assist.

Carroll finished with eight kills, one block, and nine digs.

Rick finished with 34 assists, four kills, and four digs.

VanLiew was one dig shy of a double-double as she finished with 10 kills, one block, and nine digs.

Rhoades also added 11 digs to go with one assist and one ace.

Stephens finished with eight digs, two assists and three aces.

Ryan had two digs and an ace.

Pickering finished with one kill

Debell had one kill. 

Krivdo finished with three kills and a block.

Burnam had three kills and four digs. 

"For us, to hit our optimal level in terms of offense, it's going to require Dani to play at a high level in the middle," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "If she can do that, it alleviates the pressure on our outsides to do all the scoring for us, and when we've been at our best is when we've seen that kind of balance. And (Dani) did such a tremendous job that when we did go to the left side or right side, we were getting nice splits on the block. It just makes life a lot easier there. Dani's been like this all season long. This was especially impressive, but we've learned to expect that out of her."

For the Wildcats, no player had double digits in kills. Emile lead the team with eight kills and one block. Obviously, I was kind of stuck in a situation because I knew Emile from SCF, my junior college, but seeing her play, despite being on opposite teams, was really nice to see.

Jefferson was held to two kills, two digs, and one assist.

Clark had 18 assists, two kills, one block and five digs.

Landreneaux had three kills, one block and two digs.

Bautista had five kills, one assist and four digs.

Lindsay had 19 digs and two assists.

Higgins had one assist and seven digs.

Handy finished with four kills, one block and three digs.

Adams had one kills and one block.

Freshman Micaiah Hill had one dig.

The Eagles will continue conference play beginning with Stetson on Saturday at 3 P.M.

FGCU Volleyball vs USC Upstate/NJIT Recap

It was one special night at the Alico Arena for the FGCU volleyball team. The Eagles (12-6, 4-1 A-SUN) took on USC Upstate (5-12, 2-2 A-SUN) and NJIT (9-10, 1-4 A-SUN) in conference play. FGCU would shutout the Spartans (25-17, 25-18, 25-19) and the Highlanders 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-17).

Usually, for FGCU, the headline was mainly about the offensive duo of junior outside hitter Amanda Carroll and freshman outside hitter Cortney VanLiew, but for this weekends games, it was just all about Carroll. Carroll, who was second all-time in kills as an Eagle was set to break former FGCU volleyball and current Olympic beach volleyball player Brooke Youngquist-Sweat for most overall kills as an Eagle.

FGCU would first play Upstate on Friday. Prior to the game, FGCU is 17-0 overall against Upstate since they transitioned to DI in 2007. This game made no difference as the Eagles shutout the Spartans 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-19) despite several comeback attempts. With the Win, the Eagles moved to 18-0 against the Spartans.

Carroll led the way offensively with a double-double of 15 kills and 10 digs. Carroll also added one assist and four blocks. The 15 kills put Carroll only nine away from breaking the record.

VanLiew finished with six kills, one assist, one ace, five digs and one block.

Sophomore middle blocker Daniele Serrano finished with 10 kills and a block.

Junior setter Maggie Rick had six kills and three digs to go with her 37 assists.

Freshman outside hitter Snowy Burnam had a career-high 11 kills along with one block.

Junior middle blocker Kaiti Krivdo added a kill and four blocks.

Senior defensive specialist Courtney Stephens and junior libero Karissa Rhoades had 22 digs combined (Stephens (12) Rhoades (17)).

Freshman defensive specialist Alayna Ryan and junior middle blocker Sharonda Pickering also contributed as well. Pickering had one block while Ryan added two digs.

For the Spartans, none of the players reached double digits in kills. The only double digit stats were from junior setter Madison Haake and senior right side hitter Rebecca Shearer. Haake had 15 assists along with three blocks and five digs while Shearer had 11 assists and a dig.

Junior outside hitter Callie Yeargin had a team-leading nine kills and four digs.

Freshman Lily Dempsey had eight kills, three blocks and seven digs.

Sophomore outside hitter Montana Swanson had a team-leading eight digs.

The Eagles outlasted the Spartans in kills points (57-38), kills (49-31), aces (2-1), assists (46-28) and digs (49-33). They tied the Spartans in blocks (6-6).

Fast forward to the game against NJIT. That was where history was made. The Eagles beat the Highlanders 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-17). It was the moment we have all been waiting for Carroll, but before that, there were other players that help paved the way for the win.

VanLiew had 11 kills, one assist, three blocks and five digs.

Serrano had six kills and four blocks, Krivdo added seven kills and four blocks.

Rick added two kills, two blocks and nine digs to go with the 37 assists she provided,

 Roades added 13 digs and five assists.

 Stephens added two assists and four digs.

Burnam added nine kills, three blocks and two digs.

"I think the story of the night was the offensive efficiency that we played at, and Maggie did a great job with execution," head coach Matt Botsford said. "I thought for the most part we handled the ball well in serve receive, but there were some lapses on the defensive side of the ball. And that continues to be a focus for us if we want to take that next step as a team."

Carroll set the historic moment fans were all awaiting for, as she broke the record for most career kills as an Eagle and surpassed USA Beach Volleyball Olympian Brooke Youngquist Sweat, who had 1,167 career kills.

With only nine away from breaking the record, Carroll hit the final kill in the second set with the score being 10-8. Carroll ended up with a double-double of 15 kills and 11 digs and finished with 1,174 career kills.

"It's an honor," Carroll said. "Brooke played in the Olympics. She played all four years here. To be even in the same category as her at the university level is an honor for me."

All in all, FGCU had a pretty successful weekend.

Below are several pics of me with the volleyball team.

Me with Amanda Carroll after the win over NJIT

Me with Sharonda Pickering after the win over NJIT

Me in the middle with the "W" flag behind. From left to right (back: Snowy Burnam, Ciara DeBell, Karissa Rhoades, Kaiti Krivdo, Alayna Ryan, Sharonda Pickering and Daniele Serrano. Front: Cortney VanLiew, Courtney Stephens and Maggie Rick)

FGCU Volleyball vs USC Upstate; NJIT Preview

After wrapping up their 10 match road trip, The FGCU volleyball team (10-6, 2-1 ASUN) continues playing their first conference matches at home. They will play USC Upstate (5-11, 2-1 ASUN) at 7 p.m. and NJIT (9-9, 1-2 ASUN) at 6 p.m.

Friday's match versus the Spartans has been deemed a White Out and Saturday night's match against the Highlanders is promoting Buy-One-Get-One Tix w/ Men's Soccer if Dirty Birds go to both the volleyball and men’s soccer game on the same night.

Last Time Out:
The Eagles (10-6) recently competed against Kennesaw State and Lipscomb. They would fall to the Owls 0-3 (14-25, 24-26, 21-25) before beating the Lady Bison 3-1 (25-18, 25-18, 19-25, 25-23) to wrap up the road trip. The Eagles are finished the road trip 7-3 overall and will start off against the Spartans at 7 PM and then against the Highlanders at 6 PM.

Still leading the fray offensively is duo of junior outside hitter Amanda Carroll and freshman outside hitter Cortney VanLiew.

Carroll, who had 28 kills in the last two matches and 147 kills in all 10 road matches, recently surpassed Olivia Mesner for second all-time in career kills (1,132 from 2011-14). Carroll now has 1,144 career kills and is only 24 kills away from surpassing USA Beach Volleyball Olympian Brooke Youngquist Sweat for most overall career kills (1,167 from 2004-07). Carroll currently ranks 17th in the nation in kills per set (4.52) and remains in the top 50 (48th) in kills (244).

VanLiew has 111 kills in all 10 road matches and remains second on the team in kills (186).

Junior Setter Maggie Rick dropped to 26nd in the nation in assists per set (11.05). In the last nine matches, the defending A-SUN Setter of the Year currently has 608 assists.

Defensively, junior libero Karissa Rhoades leads the team with 242 digs while the duo of sophomore middle blocker Daniele Serrano and junior middle blocker Sharonda Pickering combine a total of 85 blocks. Serrano leads the team and the A-SUN in block percentage while Pickering leads the team in total blocks.

Scouting Upstate:
The Spartans (5-11, 2-1 ASUN) recently competed against NJIT, Jacksonville and UNF for conference play. They would beat the Highlanders 3-2 and sweep the Ospreys 3-0, but would fall to the Dolphins 2-3.

Freshman right side hitter Lily Dempsey leads the team in kills (159), while senior setter Madison Haake leads with 424 assists, senior libero Kaleigh Kelley leads with 249 digs. The duo of Dempsey and freshman middle blocker McKenna Kirkpatrick combine for a total of 63 digs.

Scouting NJIT:
Entering their third year in the A-SUN, the Highlanders (9-9, 1-2 ASUN) won three out of their last five matches. They would get shutout wins against Iona College and Saint Peter’s University for non-conference play and pull a 3-1 win against UNF before falling 2-3 to Upstate and 0-3 to Jacksonville in conference play.

Senior outside hitter Tess Albyn leads the team offensively with 207 kills. Sophomore setter Liz Benson leads with 341 assists. Defensively, the duo of senior middle blocker Mikalah Hughes and Adrianne Bynoe combine a total of 112 total blocks (Hughes (51), Bynoe (61)) while junior libero, Adriana Nieto, leads with 295 digs.

NJIT will battle Stetson on Friday before taking on FGCU Saturday.

Series History:
In all 17 matchups between FGCU and USC Upstate, the Eagles are 17-0 against the Spartans. The last time both teams met, FGCU swept Upstate in both matchups winning 3-0 at FGCU and 3-2 at Upstate.

In four matchups between FGCU and NJIT, the Eagles are 4-0 against the Highlanders. Last time both teams met, FGCU swept the series shutting out NJIT at both home and away.

Since its transition to DI in 2007, FGCU has a total of 109 shutouts as of Sept 23.

FGCU Volleyball vs Lipscomb Recap

After a tough road loss to Kennesaw State, the FGCU volleyball team faced Lipscomb for conference play to wrap their 11-match road trip. The Eagles (10-6, 2-1 A-SUN) took down the Lady Bison (7-8, 1-2 A-SUN) 3-1 (25-18, 25-18, 19-25, 25-23). FGCU is now 6-16 overall against Lipscomb and ended their road trip 8-3 overall.

"While I am extremely happy to walk out of here with a win, what I'm most excited about was the team's response to a very specific challenge that we presented them with," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "We have an expectation within this program, a standard relative to our preparation and focus that we did not meet on Friday night. Regardless of the outcome night to night, we have an obligation to each other that we did not meet. Today, these girls showed me a lot about who they are and how much that concept means to them. We had some great individual performances tonight, but those are secondary to the collective effort we got from everyone."

It was the duo of Junior outside hitter Amanda Carroll and freshman Cortney VanLiew that provided the offensive sparks the Eagles needed. Both Carroll and VanLiew had 16 kills, two blocks and one assist each. Carroll had nine digs while VanLiew had six digs and a service ace, but both fell short of a double-double.

Carroll's 16 kills pushed her to way second place on the program's career kills list, surpassing Olivia Mesner (1,132 kills from 2011-14). Carroll currently has 1,144 kills and is 24 kills away from surpassing beach volleyball Olympian and FGCU volleyball alumnus Brooke Youngquist Sweat (1,167 kills from 2004-07).

Freshman outside hitter Snowy Burnam added eight kills to the fray.

Junior setter Maggie Rick added five kills of her own to go with her 38 assists, one ace, four digs and two blocks.

Sophomore middle blocker Daniele Serrano had five kills and seven blocks.

Junior libero Karissa Rhoades had three assists and 13 digs.

Other players that contributed for the Eagles include junior middle blocker Sharonda Pickering (one kill, one dig and two blocks), junior right side hitter Kaiti Krivdo (one kill and one block), senior defensive specialist Courtney Stephens (four assists and eight digs), freshman outside hitter Alayna Ryan (one ace) and redshirt freshman Ciara DeBell (one block).

“I loved the fight we had in sets three and four, but we have to be better early in matches because we don’t seem to bring enough energy out of the gate,” said Lipscomb head coach Brandon Rosenthal. “We have to have the fortitude to get outside of our comfort zone and not play casual.

For Lipscomb, junior outside hitter Carlyle Nusbaum, who hit her 1,000th kill against No. 3 Florida, led the charge offensively with 19 kills, one block and eight digs.

Sophomore middle blocker Maddie Phillps had 10 kills, two aces, three blocks and two digs.

“I thought we had some good performances across the floor tonight. Lauren Anderson did a really nice job. We got good production from Carlyle and Maddie.”

Junior middle blocker Ca'Layci Coffey had two kills and four blocks.

Junior setter Marcella Emmanuelli and sophomore setter Morgan Elmore had at least 20 assists each (Emmanuelli (21); Elmore (24)).

Senior libero Brittany Thomas had three assists and 12 digs.

Both teams have combined a total of 30 blocks (FGCU 16; LIpscomb 14).

“The expectation is for us to win,” Rosenthal said. “That’s exactly what we signed up for, so we have to work through this. We are a championship program and there is no give up on this team. We will work through this and get better.” 

Up Next:

FGCU continues conference at home as they play USC Upstate at 7 P.M. and NJIT at 6 P.M. The match with Upstate is a White Out.

FGCU Volleyball: Conference vs. Kennesaw/Lipscomb Preview

Starting off strong after playing 11 straight matches on the road, the FGCU volleyball team continues their path as conference goes on and prepares to wrap up their 11 game road trip and face Lipscomb and Kennesaw State for conference play.

The Eagles (9-5) recently competed against Bethune-Cookman for non-conference play before beginning conference play on the road against Stetson. They would tame the Wildcats and shut them out 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-19) and shutout the Hatters 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-21) to open conference.

Since being on the road, the Eagles are 6-2 overall and will start off against the Owls (7-3, 1-0 A-SUN) at 7 p.m. and then play the Lady Bison (6-7, 0-1 A-SUN) at 5 p.m. before playing their first conference game at home against USC Upstate.

The duo of junior outside hitter Amanda Carroll and freshman outside hitter Cortney VanLiew still leads the charge on the road offensively. Carroll, in the last nine matches, has a total of 119 kills and 17 service aces. VanLiew had 98 kills and eight service aces in the last nine matches. Carroll moved from 18th to 16th in the nation in kills per set (4.60) and remains in the top 50 (48th) in kills (216).

Junior Setter Maggie Rick remains ranked 22nd in the nation in assists per set (11.29). In the last nine matches, the defending A-SUN Setter of the Year had 301 assists.

Junior libero Karissa Rhoades had 118 digs in the last nine matches.

Scouting Kennesaw:
The Owls (7-3, 1-0 A-SUN), prior to the start of conference, recently played against Georgia State and power five teams Georgia, No. 12 Kentucky (now No. 10) and Louisville. The would beat the Panthers 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-12) and the Bulldogs (27-25, 25-20, 25-19), but would fall 1-3 to the Wildcats (17-25, 26-24, 15-25, 19-25) and get shutout by the Cardinals 0-3 (21-25, 14-25, 20-25). They would win the first conference match against Lipscomb by a score of 3-2 (31-29, 19-25, 22-25, 27-25, 15-7).

Junior outside hitter Maddie Jones leads the team in kills (106) while senior setter Kristi Piedmonte leads with 356 assists.

Senior libero Katarina Morton leads with 143 digs and senior middle blocker Rachel Taylor leads with 23 blocks.

Series History:
The Eagles are currently 14- 6 against the Owls. Last time both teams met, both teams split in the season. The Eagle would lose 1-3 at Kennesaw, but would come back to win 3-2 at home. Both teams would play in the conference tournament semifinals where the Eagles would be victorious and win 3-2 to advance to the A-SUN Tournament Finals.

Scouting Lipscomb:
The Lady Bison (6-7, 0-1 A-SUN) recently competed in the Gator Invitational hosted by Florida. The three time A-SUN Conference Tournament champion team would shutout former A-SUN Conference member Northern Kentucky 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-20) and FAMU 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-20) before falling to host No. 3 Florida (now No.1) 1-3 (20-25, 16-25, 25-19, 16-25). The Lady Bison lost their first conference match against Kennesaw by a score of 2-3.

Junior outside hitter Carlyle Nusbaum leads the team offensively with 235 kills. Junior setter Marcella Emmanuelli and sophomore setter Morgan Elmore combine a total of 550 assists. Defensively, junior middle blocker Ca'Layci Coffey,  junior right side hitter Carli Anderson, sophomore middle blocker Maddie Phillips and senior libero Brittany Thomas lead the charge on defense. Coffey, Phillips and Anderson have a combine total of 112 blocks while Thomas leads with 186 digs.

Series History:
In the matchups between FGCU and Lipscomb, FGCU is 5-16 against Lipscomb. Last time both teams met, both split in the season. FGCU would shutout Lipscomb at Lipscomb 3-0, which was the first win over the Lady Bison since 2012. Lipscomb would shutout FGCU 3-0 at FGCU in return. Both teams met in the finals of A-SUN Conference Tournament Championship match where Lipscomb emerged victorious and beat FGCU 3-1 to qualify for the national tournament.

So far, the standings in the A-SUN Conference of overall record and record in conference are as noted:
1. Kennesaw State 7-3, 1-0
2. FGCU 9-5, 1-0
3. Jacksonville 6-7, 1-0
4. USC Upstate  4-10, 1-0
5. NJIT  7-8, 0-1
6. Lipscomb  6-7, 0-1
North Florida 6-9, 0-1
Stetson 1-12, 0-1

FGCU VB vs. Stetson Recap: Match 1

The FGCU volleyball team (9-5, 1-0 A-SUN) opened conference play on the road as they shutout Stetson (1-12, 0-1 A-SUN) 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-21). With the win, the Eagles are now 18-2 against the Hatters.

Beginning with set one, the Hatters would start with a service ace from sophomore Naina Ivanova, but junior Sharonda Pickering would tie the match with a kill. After an attack error, sophomore Giovanna Borgiotti would make it up with a kill to tie the match.

Sophomore Daniele Serrano and junior Hao Jin exchanged two kills each before freshman Riley Nieporte and junior Amanda Carroll added kills of their own. The Hatters would take a two point lead after a kill from Jin and an attack error from junior Maggie Rick.

The Eagles would cut the Hatters lead to one after a Carroll kill, but a Rick setting error brought the Hatters lead back to a two point lead. The Eagles would score four straight points from back-to-back kill from Carroll and freshman Cortney VanLiew, two straight aces from Carroll to take the lead before the Hatters called timeout.

With the score 10-8 FGCU, the Eagles would have back-to-back kills from VanLiew and Borgiotti before Jin got back-to-back kills of her own. After an Ivanova ball handling error gave the Eagles a three point lead, junior Julie Varga would get a kill to cut the lead to two. The Eagles scored seven straight points after two kills from VanLiew, one kill from Rick, a kill from Serrano and a block to senior Shelby Connors and two service aces from senior Courtney Stephens before the Hatters used their final timeout.

With the score 20-11 in favor of FGCU, Rick would get another kill before Nieporte got a kill to stop the Eagles scoring run before Serrano added another kill. Ivanova would add another kill to the Hatter sscore before Connors was blocked by Rick. Jin would then get a kill before VanLiew answered back with a kill of her own to make it 24-14.

With the first set in favor of the Eagles, the Hatters would score two more points off of a Rick ball handling error and block Varga and Jin, but it was the Hatters could add up as Pickering sealed the first set for the Eagles with a kill.

Going into the second set, The Eagles would get two quick points from a block by Pickering and Borgiotti, who would follow with a kill afterwards, but the Hatters would quickly tie the score at 2-2 after a Nieporte kill and a Carroll attack error. It would then be in reverse after another block by Pickering and Borgiotti and a Carroll before got a kill. The Eagles would then score four straight points on a Pickering block to Connors, two straight Hatter attack errors from Connors and Nieporte before a VanLiew sent the Hatters to call a timeout.

With the score 8-3 FGCU, the Hatters would get a kill from Jin after the timeout before VanLiew returned the favor with another kill. Carroll would then make an attack error before bouncing with back-to-back kills with Serrano before sophomore Eva Deisa got a kill.

The Eagles would then get a kill from VanLiew and two straight kills from Carroll. Deisa then would counter with three straight points of her own from a kill and two aces before causing a service error. The Hatters would get on the board with double digits after a Pickering attack error, but it looked brushed off as Pickering bounced back with Borgiotti to block junior Charlotte Earnhart from scoring, which was followed by a Jin attack error. Earnhart would then bounce back with a kill of her own, but to avail as the Eagles score two more points after a Borgiotti kill and a Serrano block before the Hatters called their final timeout of the set.

After the final Hatters timeout, the Eagles would get two more points from an ace from junior Karissa Rhoades and another Ivanova attack error, but a block from Ivanova and Connors occurred gave the Hatters another point before a Borgiotti kill and a third Stephens ace gave the Eagles a 22-12 lead. Back-to-back service errors from Stephens and freshman Chelcie Spence would follow, giving Eagles set point. After a kill by Deisa, Serrano would seal the deal for set two with her seventh kill of the match.

After halftime, set three went underway, but this time the Hatters took the quick lead after an Ivanova ace, an Eagle attack error from freshman Snowy Burnam, a hatter block to VanLiew from Varga and freshman Rebecca Ingram, who would follow with a kill before the Eagles called their first timeout of the set.

After the timeout, the Eagles got on the board from an Ivanova serving error before the Hatters added two more points from a Burnam attack error and a Varga block to junior Kaitlan Krivdo before Burnam redeemed herself with a kill for the Eagles second point. After another Ingram kill, the Eagles would add two more points from a Serrano kill and a bad set from Ivanova before Jin added another kill for herself. The Eagles would score four straight from Borgiotti and Serrano. Borgiotti would get a kill and an ace while Serrano produced back-to-back kills to tie the set before the Hatters retook the lead from a VanLiew attack error before Serrano retied the lead with another kill.

After a kill from Deisa, would score four more straight points to take the lead in the third set after a VanLiew kill, a block from Krivdo and Burnam, a Varga attack error and a Krivdo kill before Deisa got another kill. The Eagles would add two more points from another Krivdo kill and block with Borgiotti before a VanLiew serving error cut the Eagles, but back-to-back kills from Krivdo and Burnam gave the Eagles a five point lead.

With the score 17-12 FGCU, the Hatters would get three straight points from two straight kills from Nieporte and a kill from Jin. After Rick got a kill, the Hatters would take advantage of an attack from redshirt freshman Ciara DeBell and two aces from junior Anna Bezhan. The Eagles and Hatters went back and forth with tying and retaking the lead with a Serrano, a Nieporte kill, a VanLiew kill and a serving error from freshman Alayna Ryan, but the Eagles would get a two point lead after back-to-back kills from Krivdo and Burnam before Stetson called their final timeout of the set.

After the timeout, the Eagle would bring the score to 24-20 after another kill from Krivdo and a Ivanova ball handling error. With match point in the Eagles sight, despite a block from Varga and Deisa, Krivdo would seal the deal with the final kill and win the match for FGCU.

Serrano and VanLiew lead the way with kills. Serrano finished with a team-leading 11 kills, two blocks and two digs while VanLiew finished with 10 kills, one assist, one block and seven digs.

Krivdo finished with six kills and two blocks.

Carroll was held to seven kills, snapping her 13-match streak of 10 or more kills. Carroll added two aces and five digs to the mix.

Rick had 40 assists, three kills, one block and three digs.

Stephens had two assists, three aces and seven digs.

Rhoades finished with 23 digs, one assist and one ace.

Borgiotti finished with six kills, an assist, an ace, three blocks and six digs

Burnam had three kills, one block and two digs.

Pickering had two kills, three blocks and a dig.

"We were really good from the service line and that's been something over the last couple weeks that's really dictated quite a few of our matches," said head coach Matt Botsford. "I thought we handled the ball pretty well in the first two sets, obviously things got pretty sloppy in the third but I'm glad the kids were able to battle it out. Dani (Serrano) and Kaitlan (Krivdo) both hit over .500 tonight and played really well in that third set. Krivdo hit at a really high efficiency and Dani, when we made some changes, stepped up and showed a lot of leadership."

The Eagles finished with seven aces and nine blocks throughout the match.

"[Serving] makes a big difference for us and it takes teams out of system," Botsford commented on his team's seven aces. It's still not as clean as we would have liked but we'll take it."

For the Hatters, no player reached double digits in kills. Jin lead the team with nine kills, two blocks and four digs. Jin was the closest to getting at least 10 kills.

Nieporte had seven kills and five digs.

Spence had 15 digs and two assists.

Ivanova had 19 assists, one kill, two aces, a block and eight digs.

Varga had one kill, five blocks and one dig.

Deisa had five kills, two assists, two aces, one block and nine digs.

Ingram had two kills and a block.

Earnhart had one kill.

Behzan had two aces, a dig and a block.

Connors had a block and two digs.

"I thought the girls had a little more energy than normal during the pregame warm-up," Stetson head coach Yang Deng said.  "The focus was really good.  They were really excited to start conference, but also to prove that they can do better this year. This game just teaches that we still have a lot of work to do to be more competitive, but the girls are on the same page and they know what needs to be done."

FGCU Volleyball vs Bethune-Cookman Recap: Match 1

The FGCU volleyball team (8-5) continued on their 11-match road trip with another victory as they swept Bethune-Cookman (2-5) 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-19) for non-conerence play. With the win, the Eagles are now 11-0 against the Wildcats.

Beginning with set one, junior Amanda Carroll began with a quick kill to put the Eagles up 1-0, but the Wildcats would counter with back-to-back kills from freshman Jordan Jefferson before an attack error occurred from freshman Cortney VanLiew. 

The Eagles would get their second point on the board after a block from sophomore Giovanna Borgiotti and junior Sharonda Pickering before Jefferson added one more kill, giving the Wildcats a 4-2 lead.

The Eagles would retie the score to 4-4 after a kill from sophomore Daniele Serrano and a Wildcat ball handling error from senior Phalen Clark, but the Wildcats would retake the lead after back-to-back kills from Jefferson and sophomore Alayna Handy.

With the score 6-4 in favor of the Wildcats, the Eagles would retie the score for the second time after back-to-back kills from Serrano and Carroll before the Wildcats retook the lead for a second time after a kill from senior Rakaya Neely before the Eagles retied the lead for the third time after a Neely service error.

The Wildcats would retake the lead after freshman Alayna Ryan, who subbed in, hit a service error, a service ace from Clark and a kill from Handy for a 10-7 Wildcat lead.

The Eagles would cut the Wildcats lead to two after blocks from Carroll and Pickering. After the Wildcats regain a three-point lead from a Carroll attack error, the Eagles would bring the lead back to two again after a kill from Borgiotti. The score would go back and forth from two and three point leads until the Eagles cut the lead to one point after back-to-back kills from Borgiotti and junior Maggie Rick, but Jefferson brought it back to two points with a kill.

With the score 14-12 still in favor of BCU, the Eagles would retie the lead after back-to-back kills from Serrano and Carroll. The Wildcats would briefly take a one point lead after a kill from Handy until kills from Carroll and a Handy attack error gave the Eagles a 17-15 lead. 

The Wildcats would retie the lead after another Ryan service error and a Handy kill, but the Eagles would regain the lead after a kill from Carroll and a service ace from Rick for a 19-17 Eagle lead.

After a Wildcat timeout, Borgiotti and Pickering got another block to make it 20-17 before another Handy kill made 20-18 FGCU, but another block from Pickering and Carroll occurred before a kill from freshman Micaiah Hill made it 21-19 FGCU. After another attack error from Jefferson, BCU called their final timeout of the set.

After the timeout, the Wildcats would score another point after Neely kill, but a kill from Serrano kept the Eagles lead to three. While Rick got another kill, Handy added back-to-back kills before the Eagles called timeout.

After the Eagles timeout, Handy would hit a service error, giving the Eagles the first set.

Going into the second set, after a block from Pickering and Borgiotti and a Rick service error, the Eagles would pick up back-to-back kills from Carroll and Pickering before a Carroll service ace, but but a Jefferson kill and a service error from junior J'Nai Higgins cut the lead to 4-3 before the Eagles took advantage of a Higgins service error making it 5-3. The Wildcats would add another kill from Neely before back-to-back kills came from Serrano and VanLiew.

VanLiew would then cause an attack error before bouncing back with a kill to make it 8-5 before Handy made it 8-6 after a kill. After a Handy service error, back-to-back Eagle kills came from Pickering and Carroll again before a kill from junior Meraiah Hill made it 11-7 FGCU.

The Eagles would score six straight points off of kills from Carroll and Pickering, an ace from rick and blocks from Pickering and Borgiotti made it 17-7 FGCU before BCU used both timeouts.

After the final timeout, the Wildcats would add another point after a Borgiotti attack error, but an attack error from senior Jessica Emile and a kill from VanLiew kept the Wildcats in single digits. After another Wildcat kill from Handy and a Eagle kill from Pickering, Jefferson would put the Wildcats in double-digits for the second set before Borgiotti added another Eagle kill.

After back-to-back attack errors occurred from Handy and junior Kaitlin Krivdo, a kill from freshman Faith Landreneaux made it 22-12 for the Eagles. A kill from Serrano and Handy made it 23-13 in favor of the Eagles, and they would take the second set after a Pickering kill and a bad set from Clark.

Going into the third and final set, Carroll started with a kill and a service ace to give the Eagles a quick 2-0 lead, but back-to-back kills from sophomore Miranda White and an attack error from redshirt freshman Ciara DeBell gave the Wildcats a brief 3-2 lead. The Eagles would retake the lead after a kill from VanLiew and a ball handling error before a service error from junior Karissa Rhoades made it 4-4. After back-to-back kills from Carroll and VanLiew and an attack error from Jefferson, Jefferson would get another Wildcat kill before Serrano would get another Eagle kill.

After a VanLiew service error, Serrano would get another Eagle kill before a Landreneaux kill and a Carroll error made it 9-8 still in favor of FGCU, but a Carroll kill and a block from Pickering and DeBell made it 11-8. After a Jefferson kill and a Pickering attack error, Carroll would get another kill before Jefferson got a Wildcat kill before VanLiew added another Eagle kill.

The Wildcats would regain the lead briefly a Neely kill and back-to-back attack errors from Pickering and VanLiew before a White service error and a Handy attack error gave the Eagles back their lead before a VanLiew attack error retied the score.

After back-to-back kills from Rick and Carroll, a attack error from Carroll, and back-to-back Wildcat attack errors from Clark and Handy, back-to-back Wildcat kills came from Landreneaux and Handy, cutting the Eagle lead to one point. After four straight Eagle points from a Rick kill, a Carroll block and two Carroll kills gave the Eagles a 23-18 lead, a Landreneaux kill made it 23-19 FGCU, but it would not be very effective as a Clark ball-handling error and VanLiew kill sealed the final set for the Eagles.

"I thought Karissa (Rhoades) came back from what I thought was a subpar first set to have a great night defensively. I challenged her and she rose to that and other people caught on," said head coach Matt Botsford. "Amanda (Carroll) again had a great night; to hit at that kind of efficiency when people know you're going to get the ball is very difficult. Outside of that, GioGio (Borgiotti) added another element on the right side."

Carroll lead the way with 17 kills, three blocks, two aces, and six digs

Serrano was second with eight kills. 

Rick finished with 32 assists, four kills, two aces, and six digs.

Borgiotti finished with three kills, four blocks and a dig.

VanLiew finished with seven kills and seven digs.

Rhoades also added 16 digs to go with her five assists.

Ryan had two digs.

Pickering finished with five kills and eight blocks.

Debell had one block and one dig. 

Freshman Snowy Burnam had one dig. 

Lone senior Courtney Stephens had five digs.

Defensively, the Eagles had 16 total blocks and 44 digs.

For the Wildcats, Handy lead the way offensively with a double-double of 12 kills and 10 digs

Jefferson also had a double-double of 10 kills and 12 digs, along with two assists.

Clark had 32 assists, one ace, one block and five digs.

Landreneaux had four kills, one block and one dig.

Neely had five kills, two blocks and three digs.

Senior Rechez Lindsay had 13 digs.

Higgins had one assist, one ace and five digs.

White had two kills, one assist and two digs.

Micaiah Hill and Meraiah Hill had one kill each. Meraiah added one dig.

"It definitely wasn't the outcome we wanted, but for three days of effort going against a strong team like FGCU, I'm proud of the effort," said Bethune head coach Brittany Williams. "If we could have had the perfect effort, it's something I would have been satisfied with. For most of that match, we had that perfect. If we can get a week of practice under our belts, we'll be fine once conference starts."

"Alana came out strong, and Jordan had a double-double again. Proud of the outside hitters. Neely's a game changer when she's in the there. Rechez is not scared of the ball and is playing solid defense," Williams added.

The Eagles continue their 11-match road trip as they prepare for conference play beginning with Stetson on Saturday at 3 P.M.

FGCU Volleyball: FGCU vs. Bethune Cookman Preview

After being on road for two straight tournaments, the FGCU volleyball team, still on the road returns to the states to face Bethune-Cookman before beginning conference play.

Last Time Out:
The Eagles (7-5) recently competed in the Hoosier Classic hosted by Indiana University. The shutout Samford 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-20) and UNLV 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-14), but would fall to host Indiana 2-3 (25-15, 23-25, 25-21, 22-25, 10-15).

Originally, The Eagles were scheduled to play FIU, but was postponed due to Hurricane Irma. No makeup date has been announced for that match. Previously, the Eagles played the Panthers at the Alico Arena in the Hilton Garden Inn Invitational for their season opener. The Eagles would sweep the Panther 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-23).

At the end of the Hoosier Classic, FGCU went 2-1 in the tournament and ended in a three way tie with Indiana and Samford, who also went 2-1 in the tournament.

Juniors Amanda Carroll, Karissa Rhoades and Maggie Rick were all named to the Hoosier Classic All-Tournament Team, and the duo of Carroll and freshman Cortney VanLiew also made a big difference.

Currently, Carroll has 192 kills and recently reached the 1,000 kill mark during her performance against Wofford in the Davidson. Carroll, who was named A-SUN Player of the Week, ranks 40 in the nation in kills and 18 in the nation in kills per set (4.57).

VanLiew, who was recently named A-SUN Freshman of the Week for her performance in the Indiana Classic. VanLiew is second in kills (143).

Hoping to defend her title as the A-SUN Setter of the Year, Rick is ranked 50th in the nation in assists (470) and 24th in the nation in assists per set (11.19).

Since transitioning from D2 to D1 in 2007, the Eagles have won via shutout 107 times.

Scouting Bethune:
Previously, the Wildcats (2-4) were suppose to compete in the USF Invitational, but was cancelled due to Hurricane Irma. They recently competed in the Bash at the Boro hosted by Georgia Southern.

The Wildcats would beat Charlotte 3-2 (21-25, 27-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-12) and host Georgia Southern 3-1 (25-18, 25-16, 23-25, 25-21), but would fall to UNF 1-3 (19-25, 25-18, 20-25, 19-25).

Jordan Jefferson leads the team in kills (85) and in six straight matches, the freshman outside hitter produced six straight double-doubles.

Meraiah Hill and Rakaya Neely, who was named Bash at the Boro All-Tournament MVP, have combined a total 45 blocks.

Series History:
Overall, FGCU is 10-0 in the series against Bethune. The last time both teams met was in 2016, where the Eagles shut out the Wildcats 3-0 at Bethune and then won again at FGCU by a score of 3-1.

For this year, it will be the 11th and 12th time both the Eagles and the Panthers will face each other.

They will play on Friday September 22nd at 6 pm at Bethune and on Tuesday October 17th at 6 pm at FGCU.

FGCU Volleyball: Hoosier Classic Update 2

As the Hoosier Classic is wrapped up, the rematch between FGCU and Indiana came down to a nail biter, but the Hoosiers would come out victorious and clip the Eagles 3-2 (25-15, 23-25, 25-21, 22-25, 10-15). A really close match, but a good one nonetheless.

Redshirt sophomore Kendall Beerman had a double-double of a team-leading 19 kills and 11 digs. Beerman also added two assists, two blocks and two aces.

Sophomore Victoria Brisack had 50 assists, two kills, one ace, two digs and two blocks.

Freshman Bayli Lebo had 14 digs, two assists and one ace.

Junior Elizabeth Asdell had 11 kills, two digs and five blocks.

Sophomore Deyshia Lofton had nine kills, one assist, one ace, two digs and six blocks.

Sophomore Hayden Huybers had eights kills, one assist, one dig and three blocks.

Sophomore Meaghan Koors had 12 digs and an ace.

Off the Hoosier bench, senior Jessica Leish had four kills and a dig and junior Samantha Fogg had two assists, one ace and six digs.

"Our resiliency was really good tonight," IU head coach Sherry Dunbar-Kruzan said. "We got thumped in the first set and you wonder how a young team is going to respond. I could not have asked them to respond better. We played 10 sets today and we probably played our best set in the 10th set today."

For FGCU, junior Amanda Carroll had a double-double of 27 kills (three shy from tying her career high) and 18 digs. Carroll also added two assists and five blocks in the match.

Freshman Cortney VanLiew also had a double-double of 14 kills and 13 digs, along with one ace.

Sophomore Giovanna Borgiotti had 11 kills and two digs.

Junior Maggie Rick had 51 assists, six kills, five digs and one block.

Sophomore Dani Serrano had five kills, one dig and four blocks.

Junior Sharonda Pickering had three kills and two blocks.

Junior Karissa Rhoades had four assists, one ace and six digs.

Off the bench, senior Courtney Stephens had three assists, one ace and eight digs.

"That was an exciting match to be a part of and I loved the way our players competed," Botsford said. "They were all so engaged in what was happening out there and invested in every point. Amanda (Carroll) did a great job all night and was so reliable in key moments both attacking and in serve receive. That MVP award was well-deserved. Another big impact in the match was the play of Gio (Borgiotti). She was generating a lot of offense on the right side and I loved how aggressive she was being in key moments."

With that being said for all four teams, the records in the tournament along with their overall records are as noted:

1. Indiana (2-1 tournament, 11-1 overall)

2. FGCU (2-1 tournament, 7-5 overall)

3. Samford (2-1 tournament, 5-9 overall

4. UNLV (0-3 tournament, 4-9 overall)

At the end of the tournament, the All-Tournament Team was announced:

Representing Indiana was Deyshia Lofton and Kendall Beerman.

Representing FGCU was Dani Serrano, Maggie Rick and Amanda Carroll.

Representing UNLV was Elsa Descamps.

Representing Samford was Taylor Andertgon.

Where do all four teams move on after the tournament? The answer: Conference play.

Indiana remains at home and starts Big Ten conference play against Illinois, Samford will begin Southern Conference (SOCON) play at home against The Citadel and UNLV will begin Mountain West Conference play away against Wyoming.

FGCU will continue with non-conference play before conference. They will play Bethune-Cookman University at Bethune. Originally, FGCU was suppose to play FIU at FIU, but the match was postponed due to Hurricane Irma. It is unknown whether they will reschedule the match.

After playing Bethune, the Eagles will begin A-SUN Conference play on the road against Stetson (Sept. 23rd 3 pm), Kennesaw (Sept. 29th 7 pm) and Lipscomb (Sept. 30th 5 pm).

After a strong showing in non-conference, FGCU looked like they had the toughest schedule this season, but when the going gets tough, you got to get tougher.

FGCU Volleyball: Hoosier Classic Update

After being on the road for two straight weeks due to Hurricane Irma, the FGCU volleyball team set their sites for their next three matches. The Eagles (7-4) recently completed in the Wildcat Classic where they shutout Wofford 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-18) and beat host Davidson in a nail biter by a score of 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-12, 15-11) before being shutout by Georgia 0-3 (20-25, 15-25, 23-25).

Fast forward to this weekend, the Eagles traveled to Indiana to compete in the Hoosier Classic hosted by the University of Indiana. FGCU was one of four teams in the tournament. Aside from host Indiana, joining FGCU on the road included Samford University and UNLV.

On Friday, FGCU faced Samford (3-9) first and shut the Bulldogs out 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-20).

Junior outside hitter Amanda Carroll led the team with 10 kills and added two blocks, one assist and three digs.

Freshman outside hitter Cortney VanLiew had eight kills and eight digs.

Carroll, VanLiew and freshman defensive specialist Alayna Ryan each had three services aces. Ryan added a dig to the stat sheet.

Junior setter Maggie Rick had 27 assists and added one kill, one ace and four digs.

Senior defensive specialist Courtney Stephens had one assist, one ace and seven digs.

Junior libero Karissa Rhoades had two assists and 13 digs.

Sophomore middle blocker Dani Serrano had six kills, one ace and two digs.

Junior middle blocker Sharonda Pickering added three kills and sophomore outside hitter Giovanna Borgiotti came off the bench and added six kills, one assist and two digs.

Serrano, Pickering and Borgiotti each had two blocks.

Junior right side hitter Kaiti Krivdo added a block as well.

"I was glad to get that match under our belt after what has been a long week," said head coach Matt Botsford. "I was really pleased with the way the team came out in the first set and immediately began applying pressure from the service line. That ended up being a huge factor throughout and got us out of some jams. Karissa (Rhoades) was very steady in serve receive which allowed us to get Gio (Borgiotti) and Dani (Serrano) more involved, providing more balance along the net."

For Samford, Krista Boesing led the team with 15 kills and added three blocks and three digs.

Taylor Anderson had 33 assists, one ace, four blocks, eight digs and one kill.

Grace Tiesman had 11 digs.

Sierra Rayzor had four kills and four blocks.

Kendal Strand had eight kills, one ace, one block and seven digs.

Kelsi Hobbs had six kills, one ace and five digs.

Shayla Phillip had six kills and three digs

FGCU had 10 aces throughout the whole match.

Fast forward to today and FGCU faces their next opponent: the UNLV Rebels.

Both teams faced each other in the past in 2010 with the Rebels coming out victorious.

The Eagles had no problem and shut out the Rebels 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-14).

The duo of Carroll and VanLiew proved to be the factor against UNLV. VanLiew had a team-leading 15 kills while adding eight digs, one assist and three service aces while Carroll had 12 kills, three digs and two service aces.

Rick had 32 assists to go with her two kills, five digs and one block.

Rhoades added six assists, two service aces and 14 digs to the mix.

The block brigade of Serrano (three blocks), Borgiotti (three blocks) and Pickering (two blocks) proved no match for UNLV to try and stop. Serrano added nine kills and a dog, Pickering had two kills and Borgiotti added four kills off the bench.

"While the offensive numbers were outstanding, what I'm most happy with was the defensive effort and execution," stated Matt Botsford, whose team held UNLV to just a .063 attack percentage – more than .050 lower than any other opponent so far this season. "We have talked a lot about needing to raise our level in that area, and the team did exactly that. Cortney (VanLiew) was great, and the way she responded after being pressured by their servers in the middle of the match says a lot about her as a competitor. I thought Courtney Stephens and Karissa Rhoades played a big role in anchoring the floor defense, and the rest of the team followed suit."

For UNLV, no player reached double digits in kills. Ashley Owens had a team leading five kills, two blocks and an ace, Leka Kiner-Falefa had seven digs and Riley Jacobs had three kills, eight assists and two blocks.

"We are definitely showing our inexperience, right now," said UNLV head coach Cindy Fredrick. "Our passing was really poor today, so the offense never got on track. We'll keep working and hopefully take care of some things."

FGCU ousted UNLV in points (56-28), kills (44-21), aces (7-3), blocks (5-4), assists (40-17) and digs (36-23).

Side notes:
1. The shutouts over Samford and UNLV were FGCU's 106th and 107th shutouts since their transition to NCAA DI.

2. Carroll is the third player and second in the Division-I era to reach 1,000 career kills after getting her 1,00th kill against Wofford.

3. Caroll is ranked in the top 20 in the nation in kills per set (4.61: 19th* in the nation).

4. Rick is also ranked in the top 20 in the in assists per set (11.61: 16th* in the nation)

The Hoosiers (10-1) recently lost their first match of the season after losing to Samford ( 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 25-15, 19-25, 15-17).

FGCU will face host Indiana tonight at 7 pm. This is, of course, a rematch from last year between FGCU and Indiana.

On Sept 10th, 2016, both teams faced each other at FGCU with the Eagles coming out victorious after a nail-biting match by a score of 3-2 (25-17, 28-26, 17-25, 22-25, 15-12).

It was also the match where redshirt freshman outside hitter Ciara DeBell, who was freshman at the time, was injured and ruled out for the season with a knee injury. Fortunately, DeBell was able to maintain all four years of eligibility and has returned to play this season.

The match is available livestream, but will cost money unless someone has a subscription to the Big Ten Network of sort. There is also a way to listen to the match as audio only and live stats will be provided.

*as of September 15th. Subject to change.