FORT MYERS, Fla. – After recording its first Atlantic Sun Conference loss of the season Friday night, the FGCU volleyball team was back in form Saturday evening as the Eagles defeated Northern Kentucky University 3-1 at Alico Arena. The Eagles squeaked out a 26-24 victory in the first set before falling 25-21 in set two.  After the break, FGCU defeated NKU 27-25, 25-17 to earn the victory. With the win, the Green and Blue improve to 13-8 on the season with a 6-1 mark in A-Sun action.  The Norse fell to 3-4 in conference play at 14-6 overall.

The Eagles maintained an attack percentage of .221 through the four-set affair but allowed NKU to hit .245. Despite the disadvantage in the team's success rate, the Eagles outperformed the Norse 61 to 55 in kills, 75-72 in digs and six to four in total blocks.

"Our serve and pass game improved drastically as we entered into the third set and we did a better job stopping their middles at the end of the set to create the difference in the match," explained head coach Matt Botsford of the team's victory. "I was happy to see us making big defensive plays at the end of the set and maintaining the lead when we had it.  I'm happy with the result we got tonight and the fact that we are 6-1 after the first half of the conference season. Now that we've seen everyone, my hope is that we can make adjustments faster and prepare better as the season goes on."

Senior Olivia Mesner (Boca Raton, Fla./Spanish River High School) led the Eagle attack with 19 kills on 33 attempts for an attack percentage of .485.  Senior Jessica Barnes (Winter Haven, Fla./Haines City High School) and junior Eleonora Kazarian (Tibilisi, Georgia/College of Central Florida) also contributed double-figure kills for FGCU with 14 and 13, respectively, while Gigi Meyer (Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz High School) facilitated the offense with 55 assists.

Defensively, the Eagles saw four different players with 12 or more digs on the night.  Senior Whitney Masters (Muncie, Ind./Waphani High School) led the charge with 20, while freshman Courtney Stephens (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park High School) added 16.  Freshman Mackenzie Allen (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast High School) and Kazarian also put up strong defensive numbers with 15 and 12 digs. Kazarian saw her sixth double-double of the season and second of the weekend with the production on both ends of the court.

The first set saw six tie scores as the teams battled for the lead.  Neither team took more than a three-point lead through the set but the Eagles maintained a slight advantage for the majority of the bout.  With a 20-17 lead, the Eagles and Norse traded points with kills on each end before the visiting team scored two-straight points to bring the score to 24-23.  After an FGCU timeout, NKU tied the set at 24 on a kill from the left side but an NKU service error and a shallow kill from Barnes pushed the Eagles in front 26-24 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Eagles lumbered through set two with a dismal attack percentage of .130, while allowing the Norse to hit .263 with just three attack errors. 

After taking a 7-1 initial lead, the Eagles allowed the Norse to bring the score within two points at 14-12. The home team maintained that slight advantage but after holding an 18-16 lead, the Eagles allowed NKU to rally for a 9-2 run that tied the set at 20-20 and ultimately put the Norse ahead 24-20. A Kazarian kill held off the Norse on set point but NKU sealed the second-set win with a kill to even the match 1-1.   

The Eagles responded well to increase their serve and pass game in the third set but fell behind early on. The team trailed by four points early and despite a strong attack percentage, was unable to cut the deficit for most of the set.  With the score at 21-16 in NKU's favor, the Eagles used an 8-5 run to tie the set at 24. With the score tied again at 25, the Eagles used consecutive kills from Mesner and freshman Lauren Tutwiler (Louisville, Ky./Assumption High School) to forge ahead 27-25 and reclaim the lead in the match at 2-1.
The Norse forced FGCU to call an early timeout in the fourth set with an immediate 4-1 lead.  After the timeout, the Green and Blue used a 6-3 run to tie the set at 7-7 and swing the momentum in their favor. After the tie, the Eagles produced another streak with a 6-1 run that put the home team ahead 13-8.  With help from several Mesner kills and a string of NKU errors, the Eagles increased the lead to a match-high 20-12. The conclusion of the set saw kills from Barnes, Kazarian and Tutwiler as FGCU maintained the lead and took the set, 25-17 to earn the match victory.

The win was the Eagles seventh 'W' in eight matches and their sixth conference win of the season to help the team remain in sole possession of second place.

The Eagles hit the road for the an Atlantic Sun road trip next week as the team will play at Stetson Saturday, Oct. 25 before traveling to Northern Kentucky and Lipscomb the following weekend.  The Green and Blue's next home game will be Friday, Nov. 7 against Kennesaw State.

For up-to-the minute information and a behind-the-scenes look at the FGCU volleyball program, follow on Twitter at @FGCU_VB, on Facebook at /FGCUVolleyball and on Instagram at @FGCU_VB.

Head coach Matt Botsford is in his first year at the helm of the FGCU volleyball program. Prior to his time in Southwest Florida, Botsford held successful stints as an assistant at Notre Dame, Miami, IUIPI, Indianapolis and most recently Colorado State. Botsford is a former professional volleyball player and is a 1998 graduate of Tri-State University, where he earned a degree in Social Studies Education.  He earned a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Indianapolis.

FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.