FORT MYERS, Fla. – The 2014 FGCU volleyball season came to a close Friday evening at Alico Arena as the no. 2 seeded Eagles fell to no. 3 Jacksonville 3-1 in the Atlantic Sun Championship semifinal. The Green and Blue fell in set one (25-16) before knotting the bout at a set each with a set-two win (25-17). However, the Dolphins claimed wins in sets two and three (25-21, 25-21) to advance to the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship for the second-straight season. For the second year in a row, the Eagles' season ends at the hands of Jacksonville. FGCU finishes the season with a mark of 19-11, while the Dolphins continue with a record of 18-13.
 
"I don't think we played anywhere near good enough to beat a Jacksonville team that is playing really well right now," said first-year head coach Matt Botsford. "We made it interesting there at the end with the scores but they were executing at a higher level than us the entire time. I thought the second set was at the level that we expected to play, but we regressed and didn't play the brand of volleyball we wanted to."
 
As a unit, the Eagles hit .178, while allowing the Dolphins to convert at a rate of .271. JU narrowly edged FGCU 56-55 in kills and 10-9 in blocks, with the Eagles leading 80-77 in digs.
 
Junior Eleonora Kazarian (Tibilisi, Georgia/College of Central Florida) led the Eagles' with 16 kills and 14 digs for her 13th double-double of the season.  Seniors Olivia Mesner (Boca Raton, Fla./Spanish River High School) and Jessica Barnes (Winter Haven, Fla./Haines City High School) each added 14 kills for the Green and Blue, while classmate Gigi Meyer (Gainsville, Fla./Buchholz High School) facilitated the offense with 45 assists in the four-set event.
 
Defensively, Whitney Masters (Muncie, Ind./Wapahani High School) led five players in double figures with 21 digs Friday night. Kazarian's 14 ranked second on the team, with Meyer and freshman Courtney Stephens (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park High School) each contributing 13 to the team's total.  Mesner also added to the team's defensive game with six block assists on the night.
 
Jacksonville took control of the match immediately with a 3-0 lead in the first set on a kill and two FGCU attack errors.  Although a Kazarian kill stopped the initial streak, the Dolphins quickly took a 7-4 lead and forced FGCU into a timeout.
 
Kazarian replicated her previous kill on the first play out of the timeout and the Eagles watched while JU committed two-consecutive errors to bring the score to 8-7. However, Jacksonville put together four-straight points to take a 12-8 lead. The no. 3 seed pushed the score and forced FGCU to hail for its final timeout of the set with a 15-10 deficit.
 
Mesner recorded a kill right out of the timeout but it was not enough to stifle the Jacksonville energy as the Dolphins never relinquished the lead and ultimately took a 25-16 win in the first set.
 
The second set was a deadlock to start as the teams tied seven times on the first 18 points. With an even score at 9-9, the Eagles produced an 8-2 streak to take control of the lead and back JU into a timeout at 17-12.
 
A Barnes kill out of the timeout extended the lead to six points with several JU errors helping the Eagles maintain the slight advantage. The Dolphins scored just two of the set's final six points as the Eagles evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-17 victory in set two.
 
The third set saw the Dolphins increase their attack efficiency with a hitting percentage of .257, while holding FGCU to .133. With just four errors, the Dolphins outlasted the Eagles to win 25-21 and move ahead 2-1 in the match.
 
The Dolphins increased their attack in the fourth set, amassing a hitting percentage of .326, while holding FGCU to .196. JU saw 17 kills and just three errors in the deciding set.
 
After a tie at 6-6, the Dolphins used a three-point run to take a 9-6 lead and force FGCU into a called timeout. After the break, the Dolphins increased that lead to 10-6 and never allowed the Eagles to reclaim control.
 
FGCU battled to bring the score within one point on seven occasions but after trailing 19-18, the home team allowed JU a four-point run to take a 23-18 lead. A kill from Shelby Joslin (Avla, Fla./Evangelical Christian School) and a block by Mesner and Barnes brought the score to 23-20 and forced JU into a timeout, but the Eagles were unable to cut the deficit any further.
 
Jacksonville and FGCU traded kills before a service error pushed the score in JU's favor at 25-21 and sealed the win for the Dolphins.
 
The Dolphins move on to face no. 1 seeded Lipscomb in Saturday's championship match. The league final is slated for 3 p.m. at Alico Arena.
 
The loss marks the second-straight season that the Eagles have fallen 3-1 to Jacksonville in the A-Sun Conference Semifinal. In 2013, the Dolphins defeated Lipscomb 3-2 to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship where they fell 3-0 to Florida.
 
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 completes his first year at the helm of the FGCU volleyball program with a record of 19-11 including an 11-3 mark in Atlantic Sun action. 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.