MIAMI, Fla. – FGCU volleyball concludes a stretch of five-straight matches on the road Tuesday, Oct. 6 against in-state rivals FIU. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. inside FIU Arena. Live stats for the contest are available through FIUsports.com.
THE GREEN AND BLUEThe Eagles split a pair of Atlantic Sun matches to move to 10-7 overall and 2-1 in A-Sun play. FGCU defeated NJIT 3-0 Friday, Oct. 2 behind 10 kills from
Amanda Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia High School) and nine each from
Eleonora Kazarian (Tibilisi, Georgia/College of Central Florida) and
Leigh Pudwill (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial High School/Northern Iowa).
Lauren Tutwiler (Louisville, Ky./Assumption High School) recorded six blocks in the win.
Looking to take possession of first place, the Eagles dropped a 3-0 decision to Lipscomb Sunday, Oct. 4. Tutwiler finished the contest hitting .625, the fifth-best performance in the A-Sun this season.
Both Carroll and Kazarian sit in the top 5 in the A-Sun in kills per set, while
Marlene Moeller (Lüdinghausen, Germany/Pascal Gymnasium) continues to be one of the conference's leaders in hitting percentage at .357.
Maggie Rick (Alpharetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity Catholic High School) remains second in the conference with 9.84 assists per set. Defensively,
Elisa Anne Aldrich (Charleston, S.C./Wando High School) leads the A-Sun with 1.28 blocks per set and is helped by Kazarian's 1.02 blocks per set.
FIUThe Panthers are coming off of a pair of C-USA victories to improve to 10-6 overall and 4-2 conference play. Lucia Castro leads a Panther offense that hit better than .300 in their previous two victories. Castro has 189 kills on the year and is one of three players with more than 100 kills. Jennifer Ene and Katie Hogan have eclipsed the 100 kill mark in 2015 in addition to Castro. Hogan used a 19-kill performance against Marshall to reach 102 kills this season. Katie Friesen has supplied 420 assists for FIU, compiling 7.5 per set.
Defensively, Gloria Levorin has posted 59 total blocks through 16 contests. Castro and Ene are on the verge of surpassing 50 blocks in 2015, with 48 and 47 respectively.
The two programs first met in 2008, with FIU taking all three sets at Alico Arena. The Panthers would go on to win the next three matches from 2009 to 2011 before the
Eagles current run of four-straight wins to even the all-time series at four. During that time, the Eagles and Panthers have played to five sets twice.
UP NEXTThe Eagle return to Alico Arena for the first time since Sept. 19 for a pair of A-Sun contests. On Friday, Oct. 9, FGCU plays host to Kennesaw State at 6 p.m. Then on Saturday, the Eagles welcome USC Upstate at 7 p.m.
FOLLOW ALONG 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.
COACH BOTSFORD Head coach
Matt Botsford is in his second year at the helm of the FGCU volleyball program and his teams have combined for an overall 29-18 (.617) record, including a 13-4 (.764) mark in A-Sun play. In his inaugural season, the Eagles finished with a record of 19-11 with a second-place finish in the A-Sun. Botsford's team also had five players recognized as All-Conference honorees, to set a new program high. Prior to his time in Southwest Florida, Botsford held successful stints as an assistant at Notre Dame, Miami, IUPUI, 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.
SUPPORT THE CAUSE 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.
