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FORT MYERS, Fla. – FGCU volleyball tallied their fourth-straight victory in a win over South Alabama to kick off the 2016 Homewood Suites Classic at Alico Arena. The Eagles took down the Jaguars in four sets (25-15, 25-20, 22-25, 25-15) to improve their record to 5-2, while South Alabama sits at 7-2 after a victory earlier in the day over Marist. Nearly 600 fans came out to support the Green and Blue in their Friday night match, including US Olympian Brooke Youngquist Sweat who was a member of the FGCU volleyball program from 2004-07.
 
Also in attendance at tonight's match was Daniel the Dinosaur, a disguised student supporter who has cheered on the volleyball team at every home match this season. Daniel has become the team's second-favorite mascot behind Azul, as both fans and players get a kick out of the inflated carnivore's presence.
 
"That dinosaur made my night," said head coach Matt Botsford. "Getting a win is great, but that thing is phenomenal, and whoever that is, I hope they come back every time. The student section has been wonderful. We haven't seen that kind of support since I've been here, and we've been able to sustain it for a couple of weekends. The energy in here is great and they're a huge part of it, so we're really thankful for the Dirty Birds, the whole student population and the dinosaur."
 
"We knew South Alabama was a very talented team," Botsford continued, "and the first two sets were really neck and neck, which is what we expected. In the third set, we just couldn't slow their offense down. Our success prior to that was because our defense was doing a good job and we found a pretty nice rhythm, so all in all we're happy with the result. We'll always take a win at home."
 
The Eagles attack was led by sophomore Amanda Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia HS) and senior Leigh Pudwill (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS/Northern Iowa) who combined for 39 kills – 20 and 19 respectively. Together the duo amassed just seven kills less than the entire Jaguars unit combined. Carroll's 20-kill night marks the highest in a single match from an Eagle so far this season. Her second kill in the second set of the match marked the 400^th kill in her collegiate career.
 
Meanwhile, Pudwill landed an impressive 51.5 percent of her 33 attacks. Her 19-kill match marks the second-most she's ever recorded for the Eagles in a single night, trailing only her performance against Lipscomb last season where she pounded down 27 kills, tying the second-most in program history.
 
FGCU offensively outpaced the Jaguars, recording 62 kills to South Alabama's 46. The Eagles attack was not only electric, but efficient as the team averaged a hitting percentage of .389 against a defense who before tonight was holding their opponents to an average of .190. The success was a team effort, as four Eagles hit over .400 in the win. Sophomore setter Maggie Rick (Alpharhetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity Catholic HS) was once again tasked with facilitating the Eagles offense and amassed a season-high 49 assists in the match.
 
Sophomore Karissa Rhoades (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior HS) led the team in hitting percentage recording .667 in the match. The rising sophomore slammed down back-to-back service aces in the second set, but it was senior Caroline Jordan (Orlando, Fla./Boone HS) who topped the statistical category for the Eagles with three. In total, six different FGCU players pounded down points from the service line before the night was over.
 
Courtney Stephens (Winter Park, Fla./ Winter Park HS) led the team's defensive efforts with 17 digs followed by Carroll's 12. The junior libero facilitated a defense that held the Jaguars to a hitting percentage of .254, including just .103 in the second set.
 
Pudwill started things off for the Eagles with the first kill of the match. Kills by freshman Ciara DeBell (Ocala, Fla./Vanguard HS) and senior Marlene Moeller (Ludinghausen, Germany/Pascal Gymnasium) followed, but were answered by points from South Alabama. The score tied up six times before FGCU was able to pull slightly ahead. Leading 11-10, the Eagles tallied consecutive kills from Carroll, Moeller and DeBell. With the score at 14-10, the teams split the next 10 points. Following an Eagles service error that gave the Jaguars their 15^th point, FGCU went on a six-point run that featured back-to-back kills by Pudwill and ended the set at 25-15.
 
The second set started just as tight as the first. FGCU took a 4-2 lead after Pudwill slammed down back-to-back kills. However, multiple errors set the Eagles back, and the Jaguars were able to capture a 6-4 advantage. When a DeBell kill followed by back-to-back service aces from Rhoades put the Eagles up 7-6, three FGCU errors once again returned the lead to South Alabama. The Eagles came within one point after a kill from DeBell. With the score at 10-9, a Rhoades kill began a five-point FGCU run that was capped off by a service ace from Jordan. The set remained close as the teams exchanged the next 12 points. Again, back-to-back errors hindered the Eagles progress, allowing the Jaguars to narrow the gap to two. Leading 20-18, Carroll and Moeller added back-to-back kills. Two FGCU service errors and a kill from Carroll increased the score to 23-20. Carroll and Pudwill slammed down a pair of kills that captured the set for the Green and Blue. The 25-20 victory put FGCU ahead 2-0 in the match.
 
The Jaguars got off to a quick start in the third set, scoring five of the first six points. FGCU picked up the pace with multiple kills from Pudwill along with scores from DeBell and Carroll. With South Alabama leading by two, the next four points were swapped. After an Eagles error increase the gap to three and the score to 10-7, FGCU went on a three-point run highlighted by a service ace from Rick and a kill from freshman middle block Danielle Serrano (Sanford, Fla./Seminole HS). The Jaguars answered with three points of their own including a service ace. FGCU responded by going on the attack with three consecutive kills and a Carroll ace that gave the Eagles a 14-13 lead – their first of the set. Four more points from South Alabama flipped the advantage back to the Jaguars. The teams split the next six points. Another kill from Carroll followed by a service ace from DeBell increased the score to 20-19. Again, the teams exchanged scores with the Jaguars maintaining a 23-22 advantage. South Alabama ended the set and forced a fourth, when a kill by Kristina Alabastro followed by an Eagles error pushed the Jaguars to 25 points.
 
The arena got louder as the first 12 points of the fourth set were split evenly by the two teams. The Eagles pulled ahead 10-6 with six consecutive scores highlighted by a pair of service aces. The Jaguars scored two of the next four points, but found themselves outpaced when two kills and a Pudwill/Serrano block extended FGCU's lead to seven. South Alabama crunched the gap back to five with three kills broken up by a score from Rhoades. With the set at 16-11, the Green and Blue extended their streak, tallying another three consecutive points. The score advanced to 20-13 following two Jaguars kills and a kill from Carroll. Four consecutive errors from South Alabama allowed FGCU to pull ahead 24-13. With the match on the line, the Jaguars slammed down two more kills, but the Eagles lead proved to be too much to come back from when Carroll pounded down her 20^th kill of the night to win the match 3-1 for the Green and Blue.
 
TOURNAMENT SCORES FOR SEPT. 9

South Alabama vs. Marist	Final: 3-1, South Alabama
Marist vs. Indiana	Final: 3-0, Indiana
FGCU vs. South Alabama	Final: 3-1, FGCU

 
UP NEXT
The Eagles will take on Marist tomorrow at 10 a.m. before facing Indiana at 7 p.m. to close out the weekend. Marist fell to 0-8 after dropping matches to both South Alabama and Indiana earlier in the day. Indiana remains undefeated at 8-0.
 
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 enters his third year at the helm of the FGCU volleyball program.  His teams have combined for an overall 43-24 (.642) record, including a 21-7 (.750) mark in ASUN play. In his inaugural season, the Eagles finished with a record of 19-11 with a second-place ASUN finish. Botsford has coached 10 All-Conference selections in his two seasons. 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. A former professional volleyball player, he is a 1998 graduate of Tri-State University (now Trine), 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.