CORAL GABLES, Fla. – After beginning the season with a five-set victory, the FGCU volleyball team dropped two games to high-level opponents at the Hurricane Invitational on Saturday, Aug. 30 to fall to 1-2 on the season.  The Eagles were narrowly edged by Seton Hall University 3-2 in the morning contest before falling in a sweep to the University of Miami in the prime time matchup at Miami's Knight Sports Complex.
 
The Eagles started strong against the foe from the Northeast with wins in sets one and two (25-23, 25-14), but dropped sets three and four (25-19, 25-16) to send the match to a decisive fifth set. The final set saw eight tie scores, including four in double-figure points, and was ultimately decided in extra points.  Despite a strong effort, the Eagles were edged 17-15 in the fifth to fall 3-2 against the BIG EAST opponent.
 
In the evening bout, the Eagles struggled to match the ACC team's athleticism and skill.  FGCU fell by scores of 25-10, 25-19 and 25-17 to drop the three-set match.
 
"This season is going to be a work in progress," explained head coach Matt Botsford. "But he overriding theme should be that the season provides us an upwards trajectory.  We don't want to fixate on a single day because we know that even when there are dips, two weeks from now we will better than we are today. After a day like today, we know better what we need to work on and what we need to prepare better for.  I know that from a player's perspective this is disappointing, but from a coaching prospective, it is a valuable resource."
 
SETON HALL
Overall, the Eagles were outmatched defensively in the opening match of the day, as the Pirates recorded 15 total blocks compared to FGCU's five.  The Eagles produced 67 total kills but gave up points with both attack and service errors.  The Green and Blue maintained an attack percentage of .157 with 67 kills in the morning match, compared to the Pirates' .225 attack mark and 48 kills.
 
Individually, senior Jessica Barnes led the Eagles' offense for the second-straight match with 18 kills.  Junior Vanessa Benke aided in the attack with 16 kills and rounded out her performance with her second-consecutive double-double by adding 13 digs.  The Eagles saw two others in double-figure kills as Olivia Mesner and Eleonora Kazarian added 14 and 13, respectively. 
 
Senior setter Gigi Meyer aided the offensive effort with 54 assists and added 12 digs, while libero Whitney Masters led the team with 19 digs and three service aces.
 
After falling back on their heels with a Seton Hall service ace to start the match, the Eagles tied the first set at three and gained composure to take an 9-7 lead. The Pirates retaliated with a four-point streak to take the lead, but the Eagles never allowed SHU to extend its advantage to greater than four points.  With a strong success rate on the attack, the Green and Blue chipped away at the deficit and brought the score within one point at 22-21 on a solo block from Barnes.  After an SHU timeout, the Eagles used kills from Kazarian and Barnes to claim a 24-22 lead.  With a long final rally, FGCU drew a 25-23 win to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Barnes led the Eagles into set two and helped the team get out to a quick 8-1 lead.  After trading points, the Green and Blue extended its lead to 17-10 on a five-point run that included a kill from Mesner and three-straight service aces from Masters.
 
The Eagles held onto the advantage and went ahead 2-0 with a 25-14 set win.
 
Seton Hall started the third set with a 7-4 lead but allowed the Eagles to respond with three-straight points to tie the score at seven.  The teams traded points and kept the set within one point until the Pirates constructed a 7-1 run to take a 22-15 lead while facing match defeat.  The Eagles were unable to match the Pirates' strong attack percentage and blocking and dropped set three, 21-19, to lose sight of a sweep.
 
The teams again traded rallies to open the fourth set. After tying the set at five points, SHU scored six of the next seven points to move the score to 11-6 and never relinquished the lead.  FGCU kept the score within five points for the majority of the set but fell by allowing the Pirates to produce six kills in their final seven points.  The Pirates evened the match at two games each with a 25-16 set-four victory.
 
The deciding set was a battle for each and every point as the teams fought for the lead through the entire set.  After tying the score at two and six points, the Eagles used a series of kills from Benke to take an 11-7 lead.  However, the Pirates responded quickly with a four-point streak to tie the bout at 11.  The teams again traded points to tie at each point between 12 and 15.  In extra points, the Eagles allowed SHU to capitalize on an attack error and successfully produce two kills to steal the set victory at 17-15 and earn the match win, 3-2.
 
The Pirates improved to 1-1 with the win over FGCU.  The team previously fell to Miami on Friday evening.
 
MIAMI
The Eagles returned to the Knight Sports Complex for a 7 p.m. match against the host Miami Hurricanes.  Miami's athleticism and physicality muffled the Green and Blue's abilities and created a tough matchup.
 
Individually, Barnes led the offense with eight kills, while Mesner added seven and Benke contributed another six.  Meyer assisted 20 of the team's 23 kills on the night and led the squad with six digs.  As a whole, the Eagles hit just 0.25 and saw as Miami amassed an attack percentage of .440 with just eight attack errors through the three-set fight.
 
The Hurricanes and Eagles opened the match – which saw over 500 in attendance – by trading points on kills.  Miami quickly produced three-straight points to bring the score to 9-4 and shift the momentum in favor of the home team.  The Hurricanes went on to use a 14-1 run to take a double-figure lead and maintained the lead through the end of the set.  With a help from a .464 attack percentage and six total blocks, the home team went ahead 1-0 with a 25-10 win.
 
The second set proved to be a more even battle, with the teams tying on points 4, 6, 7 and 9.  Miami took a brief lead at 12-9 but the Eagles gained composure and rallied to tie the set again at 17.  However, after an FGCU timeout, the Hurricanes outscored the Green and Blue 5-2 for the remainder of the set and went up 2-0 with a 25-19 second-set win.
 
Miami sealed the three-set match by way of a .640 attack percentage in the final set.  The team produced 17 kills and no attack errors, while adding two blocks to stifle the Eagles.
 
With the win, the Hurricanes improved to 3-0, all of which were earned in their season-opening tournament.
 
UP NEXT
The Eagles will continue preseason tournament play next weekend at the Ohio State Annual D.C. Koehl Classic where they will take on Southern Illinois, Auburn and the host Buckeyes. Play will begin on Friday, Sept. 5 with a 10 a.m. game against SIU.