ORLANDO, Fla. – After dropping their first match of the year in the morning game against UCF, the FGCU volleyball team (7-1) bounced back to defeat Georgia (3-5) evening series to close out day one of the UCF Invitational. UCF (3-4) defeated the Eagles in four sets (25-18, 25-18, 15-25, 25-15), while FGCU came rallied to defeat Georgia in four (24-26, 25-23, 27-25, 25-19) for the night cap.
The Eagles will return to action on Saturday night (5:30 PM) against Florida State. The Seminoles also needed a rally to get past the Dawgs on Friday at The Venue at UCF pulling out a five-set victory to improve to 5-1 on the year.
The win over Georgia marked the second against a Power 5 program this year (Rutgers) and was FGCU's sixth overall. The morning loss for the Green and Blue snapped its program-record tying six-match win streak to start the year. The loss in the opening set was also the first for the Eagles this season.
"UCF really controlled things from the service line and we could never catch up to the pace of their offense with our block," said head coach Matt Botsford. "That's a tough combination, and when it happens like that, you are going to have a tough time finding a way to win."
After playing the Knights at 10 AM, the Eagles were back on the court for the final match of the day at 5:30 PM.
"The best part about this group is that they were very aware of what needed to change as we headed into the Georgia match and they made those changes quickly," said Botsford. "Lauren was a huge boost off the bench and our middles were working extremely hard in transition and on the block, which I think ultimately put us in position to win."
One of the highlights of the day was the performance of freshman Skylar English who finished the day with 26 kills including a team-high 14 against Georgia. She was just two shy of Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio/Granville HS) who led the team with 28 kills on the day.
"Skylar was outstanding all day and is playing with such maturity as a freshman," said Botsford.
In the morning match against UCF, Shomaker led the Eagles with 16 kills in the match, while English notched 12 kills to go with seven digs. Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) directed the offense with 39 assists and added seven digs and three kills. Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) finished the morning set with 21 digs.
In the first set, FGCU jumped out to a 3-1 lead before UCF was able to knot things up at 4-4. The Knights then scored four straight points on a pair of kills by McKenna Melville and two aces from Chloe Scheer. The Eagles were able to keep within three points until back-to-back kills from Tali Marmen gave the Knights a 13-8 lead. The sides traded points from there until a FGCU service error was followed by another Melville kill to extend the lead to 24-17. After FGCU got a point back, Melville closed out the match with a kill to give the final 25-18 score.
Set two featured six ties and four lead changes until a three-point spurt by UCF gave the Knights a 14-12 advantage. Following an FGCU timeout, UCF scored four of the next six points to extend its lead to 21-15. The Eagles pulled within four, 21-17, after a kill by English and a setting error for UCF. The teams traded scores following that before the Knights closed the set with three consecutive points.
The Eagles bounced back in big fashion to win the third set, 25-15. FGCU hit .500 while holding the Knights to a .276 hit percentage. The Green and Blue took an early 8-2 lead behind a pair of Juliana Lentz (Miami, Fla./St. Brendan HS) kills, two from Shomaker, solo shots by English and Aja Jones (Venice, Fla./Venice HS). That lead increased to 17-7 after a four-point spurt midway through the match sparked by two kills and an ace from Cortney VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) and another Shomaker tally. Lentz finally put the set away with a kill go give the final 25-15 score.
The fourth set was all UCF early as the Knights jumped out to a 9-1 lead. The Eagles were able to cut it down to three on two occasions, 11-8 and 12-9, but six straight points from the Knights extended their lead down the stretch to 18-9. With UCF on match point at 24-12, FGCU scored three straight points, but a kill by Chambers sealed the match win.
Overall, UCF hit .352 for the match compared to .197 for FGCU. The Knights were led by 16 kills from Melville and 14 from Marmen who also had a 12 digs.
In the win over Georgia, English finished the match with 14 kills, while Shomaker had 12 and Lentz added 10. Lauren Clark came off the bench to tally nine kills to go with four aces.
Amber Stivrins had a match-high 19 kills, while Abby Maesch was the only other Georgia player in double figures.
The match featured 38 ties and 15 lead changes throughout the evening. The second set alone had 16 ties and eight lead changes.
In the opening set, FGCU built out a 15-12 lead which they maintained until late in the game. After an English kill gave the Eagles a 22-19 lead, Georgia scored back-to-back points to pull within one. A Lentz kill pushed FGCU back up by two, but the Dawgs were able to tie things again at 23 each. The Eagles had set point after a Shomaker kill, but Georgia scored three straight points for the win.
The second set was played out in much the same fashion. A three-point burst late put FGCU up 22-20 before Georgia was able to tie at 22 each. A kill by English and an ace from Clark put the Eagles back up by two looking for the set point. Georgia was able to score on the ensuing serve, but Shomaker closed the door with a kill to even up the match at one set each.
In the third, both teams had a crack at set point with Georgia up 24-23 before English tied the game and Lockey put the Eagles up one. UGA tied things up after that, 25-25, but a kill from Shomaker followed by a block from Clark and Lentz gave the Green and Blue the 27-25 win.
Both teams trade points early in the fourth set until FGCU broke a 15-15 tie with five straight scores to take control. Georgia was able to score twice to pull back within three, 20-17, but the Eagles tallied five of the next seven points to seal the match win.
VanLiew finished the day with eight kills and needs just six more kills to surpass Amanda Carroll (1483, 2015-19) for the program's all-time lead. She is also on the verge of joining Brooke Youngquist Sweat as the only players to post 1,000-plus kills and 1,000 plus digs.
Most Career Kills
| 1. | 1,483 | Amanda Carroll (.259) | 2015-19 |
| 2. | 1,477 | Cortney VanLiew (.232) | 2017-present |
| 3. | 1,173 | Brooke Youngquist Sweat | 2004-07 |
| 4. | 1,132 | Olivia Mesner | 2011-14 |
| 5. | 961 | Jessica Barnes (.194) | 2010-14 |
Most Career Digs
| 1. | 1,965 | Whitney Hendry (390 sets) | 2004-07 |
| 2. | 1,687 | Whitney Masters (483 sets) | 2011-14 |
| 3. | 1,652 | Holly Youngquist (418 sets) | 2008-11 |
| 4. | 1,602 | Dana Axner (310 sets) | 2018-present |
| 5. | 1,369 | Brook Youngquist Sweat (346 sets) | 2004-07 |
For complete coverage of the volleyball program, follow the Eagles on Twitter at @FGCU_VB, on Instagram at @FGCU_VB, on Facebook at /FGCUVolleyball and online at FGCUathletics.com. You can also sign-up to have news on FGCU volleyball or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
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COACH BOTSFORD
Matt Botsford is entering his eighth season as head coach of the FGCU women's volleyball program in 2021 after being hired on Feb. 10, 2014. In his tenure, Botsford-led teams have compiled a 164-54 (.748) record overall, including an 81-19 (.810) record in ASUN play. Including this past year's unprecedented spring season, he has taken the program to heights it has not seen in the Division-I era (2007-present) – registering at least 20 wins overall in five of the past six seasons and at least 10 wins in conference play every season. In 2018, he led the program to its first regular season championship since 2012 (fourth overall) and its first-ever ASUN tournament title, NCAA tournament appearance, NCAA tournament win and victory over a ranked team. His first two campaigns resulted in ASUN regular season runner-up finishes, and the following two saw the Eagles advance to the tournament championship and now the team has won three straight regular season titles, including a division title and ASUN tournament runner-up finish in the spring 2021 season. On Sept. 10, 2016, Botsford led his team to a five-set win over Indiana in Alico Arena, which signified the program's first-ever win over a team from a Power-5 conference. In 2018, he led the team to a win over Miami (Fla.) - the program's first-ever road Power 5 win, and the Eagles followed that up with a straight-set win over the Hurricanes at a neutral site in 2019.
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FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 85 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 42 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
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