DeLAND, Fla. -- In the strongest comeback of the season, the FGCU volleyball team defeated Stetson 3-2 Saturday afternoon at the Edmunds Center. The Eagles fell behind 2-0 (25-22, 25-20) before winning three straight (27-25, 25-26, 15-12) to move to 14-8 on the season and 7-1 in Atlantic Sun Conference play. The Hatters fell to 14-8 overall with a 5-3 record in league play with their second loss to the Eagles this season.
The Eagles attack was widespread as four members of the team recorded double-figure kills. Freshman Lauren Tutwiler (Louisville, Ky./Assumption High School) led the team's surge with an attack percentage of .833 at 10 kills on just 12 attacks. Seniors Olivia Mesner (Boca Raton, Fla./Spanish River High School) and Jessica Barnes (Winter Haven, Fla./Haines City High School) added 15 kills for the Green and Blue, while Eleonora Kazarian (Tibilisi, Georgia/College of Central Florida) produced 14 in the five-set affair. Senior setter Gigi Meyer (Gainesville, Fla./Bucholz High School) facilitated the offense with 56 assists in the match.
Defensively, senior libero Whitney Masters (Muncie, Ind./Wapahani High School) led the team with 18 digs, while freshman Mackenzie Allen (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast High School) added 17. Mesner and Kazarian each produced five blocks with Tutwiler adding four as the team compiled 12 on the afternoon.
Caroline Jordan (Orlando, Fla./William R. Boone High School) led the team with a match-high three service aces.
"I'm very proud of the way our team responded in light of the way the match started," said head coach Matt Botsford of the win. "We had some early struggles playing high error which put us on our heels very early. We got a much needed spark as Gigi and Lauren started connecting in the third set. That opened up a lot and changed what we could do offensively. Shelby [Joslin]'s contributions off the bench were also a big factor. She blocked extremely well and helped a lot in our serve receive patterns."
Collectively, the Eagles maintained an attack percentage of .215, while the Hatters hit .145 in the match. FGCU outperformed the Hatters 61 to 53 in kills with a 61 to 49 advantage in assists. On the defensive side, the Green and Blue produced 83 digs compared to Stetson's 61 with 12 team blocks.
Stetson initiated the match with a 3-0 lead before Kazarian sparked a three-point run, coupled with back-to-back Jordan aces to tie it up. The Hatters eventually regained their three-point edge after some wayward offense from the Eagles as FGCU hailed for its first timeout of the set.
Immediately after the break, Barnes hurled down consecutive kills to cut the deficit to a point, 9-8. Both clubs traded offense before a Kazarian blast down the right side tied things up, 12-12. FGCU could feel momentum swelling on its side after Mesner's kill forced Stetson into its first timeout of the set.
The Eagles went on a 5-1 rally to claim that 19-14 advantage, but after the two Hatter points and another FGCU timeout, Stetson took hold to claim eight of the next 11 exchanges for a 25-22 first set victory. Jessica Armstrong turned in a pair of kills during Stetson's run and Madison Akins finished the job with a spike down the middle.
FGCU claimed an early advantage to start the second set, but a strong showing by the Hatters midway through the second backed by Armstrong's offense gave Stetson the 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-20 victory.
Tutwiler and Kazarian teamed up to bestow the Eagles with a 4-2 lead with imposing offense at the net, but an Allen service error and a Foster kill tied things up, 5-5.
The Eagles benefitted from three Hatters' errors to regain a two-point edge, 8-6, before an Armstrong swat and Erika White ace buttoned it back up, 8-8. A Meyer kill chased by consecutive Stetson errors gave FGCU its largest advantage of the second set, 11-8, but SU rattled off a six-point spurt to coerce the Eagles into a timeout, trailing 14-11. Kayla Weller charted a pair of service aces throughout the course of Stetson's run.
Following the timeout, the Eagles recuperated and tied the match, 17-17, after claiming five of the next seven volleys. FGCU's offense spread it around, receiving kills from Tutwiler, Mesner, Allen and service aces from Courtney Stephens and Kazarian.
With the second set tied, 19-19, SU's Armstrong took matters into her own hands and slammed down four kills to put the frame out of reach for FGCU. The Hatters took a 2-0 lead with the 20-25 win in the second set.
Stetson appeared as if it would close the match out early in the third set, but a balanced Eagle attack down the stretch kept FGCU alive in a gritty, 27-25 triumph.
The Hatters were powered by Shelby Connors' two kills to take a 4-0 lead in the onset before Mesner and Kazarian stopped the bleeding with back-to-back swings to cut the deficit, 4-2. Foster negated the last two FGCU points with consecutive kills, forcing the Eagles to regroup facing a 6-2 deficit.
Despite the timeout, Stetson maintained its lead and stretched it to a 9-3 advantage after another Foster swat, but the Eagles kept their heads up and recorded the next four points, forcing SU into three errors.
Tutwiler rose to the occasion and blasted two of the next three exchanges through the Hatters' defense to tie up the fourth set, 10-10. With the stanza deadlocked, both offenses came together and swapped six kills per side, stretching matters out to a 19-19 standstill.
Kazarian found her game late in the frame and took hold of the momentum for FGCU, killing three of the next four serves while Meyer contributed with another to give the Eagles a three-point lead, 23-20. Despite a late rally by Stetson to tie it up in the end at 25 all, Tutwiler and Kazarian would not relent and shouldered the offense with back-to-back kills to cap the third set.
FGCU forced a fourth set with a powerful front court attack and stout defense, winning easily by a 25-16 count.
Kazarian and Mesner kills along with two Stetson attacking errors put the Eagles up, 4-2, but the Hatters made an early attempt to seal the contest with a five-point spurt to push ahead, 7-4.
Down three, FGCU signaled for a timeout and immediately coaxed Stetson into consecutive errors. A Mesner slam from the right side tied the fourth set up, 7-7. SU captured five of the next eight rallies for one last effort at the fourth set before FGCU took matters into its own hands.
Barnes came on strong midway through the third and powered the Eagles to a 14-13 edge and then let the rest of the offense take over. Tutwiler buried another ball and the Eagle defense forced Armstrong into an error as FGCU owned a 16-13 lead, forcing the Hatters into a timeout.
The SU breather did not do much for Stetson as FGCU came out firing for five of the next six points, staking claim to a 21-14 lead. Allen notched a pair of kills while Jordan's ace gave the Eagles a comfortable seven-point buffer. Stetson gave one last effort, but Mesner and Allen prevented any late rally as the Eagles cruised to a fifth set.
Stetson showed no signs of giving up the match, initiating the final set with back-to-back kills and taking a 3-0 lead, but FGCU banded together and tied it up with two swats from Mesner and an Allen kill sandwiched in between.
Akins' ace capped a 4-1 run for Stetson as SU held on to a 7-4 lead. Armstrong bashed one in front, forcing Meyer into a blocking error and the Hatters were just five points away from victory with a 10-6 lead, but Stetson became shaky and committed several errors to make it a 10-9 affair.
Barnes and Kazarian muscled up and made some noise in front to reclaim a 12-11 lead and forcing Stetson into a timeout. Out of the break, Allen committed an attacking error but Kazarian backed her teammate with a big kill to make it 13-12. Allen made up for her previous error, putting FGCU on the brink of victory with a vicious cross-court swat before the Eagles forced Armstrong to go long and come all the way back to win the match with a 15-12 fifth set victory.
The Eagles return to action next weekend with away tilts at Lipscomb and Northern Kentucky.
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.
