FORT MYERS, Fla. – The nest was truly protected this weekend when FGCU volleyball swept the competition during the Hilton Garden Inn Classic at Alico Arena. The Green and Blue didn't lose a single set in two days, producing three match victories in nine sets. The Eagles defeated Delaware on Friday night before taking down New Orleans (26-24, 25-11, 25-17) on Saturday, Sept. 3 at 10 a.m. and shutting out VCU (25-21, 25-19, 25-11) at 7 p.m. later that night. FGCU placed first in the Labor Day Weekend tournament and improved to 4-2 on the season. VCU placed second after victories over Delaware and VCU and holds a record of 2-4. Delaware stands at 4-2 after weekend play, and New Orleans falls to 1-5. Setter Maggie Rick (Alpharetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity Catholic HS) was named Tournament MVP after tallying 112 assists in two days of actions, while sophomore Amanda Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M/Sandia HS) earned All-Tournament recognition with 42 kills and 22 digs on the weekend.
 
The Eagles started off the morning strong with a commanding 3-0 (26-24, 25-11, 25-17) victory over New Orleans. Once again FGCU featured a stingy defense, allowing a hitting percentage of just .032 in the match. The Green and Blue finished ahead of the Privateers in virtually every statistical category including kills (44- 24), assists (45-34), digs (45-34) and blocks (7-6).
 
Freshman Ciara DeBell (Ocala, Fla./Vanguard HS) continued to shine, recording nine kills, 10 digs, 2 blocks and a .643 hitting percentage, but it was Carroll who led the Eagles attack with 13 kills.
Libero Courtney Stephens (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park HS) tied a season-high with 16 digs against the Privateers. The defensive leader also helped the Eagles put points on the board with three consecutive service aces in the third set.
 
"Overall, I'm happy with the results," said head coach Matt Botsford. "In the first set, we were pretty reckless offensively, but we cleaned that up and started to take much more productive swings. I thought our middles were very efficient in the match with their attacking, which we're going to need moving forward."
 
While VCU was held to a hitting percentage of .198 in the second match of the day, it was the Eagles offense that brought the heat for FGCU. As a team, The Green and Blue averaged a hitting percentage of .404, including an outstanding .680 in the final set of the match, marking the highest hitting percentage produced by any team in the Atlantic Sun Conference so far this season. The only other school to produce a team hitting percentage above .600 in a single set is preseason favorite Lipscomb, who averaged .667 in the final set of their first match against Cal State Northridge. The Eagles attack outpaced the Rams with 45 kills to VCU's 33. The Rams were held to just seven kills in the third set.
 
Carroll, who tallied 16 kills in the match was assisted offensively by DeBell and senior Leigh Pudwill (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS/Northern Iowa) who each amassed nine. Pudwill aided the defense by adding three blocks to the box score, but it was Stephens and sophomore Karissa Rhoades (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior HS who carried the torch for the defense with 13 and nine digs respectively.
 
"In the New Orleans match, we kind of got bailed out a little bit," said Botsford following the victory over VCU. "We weren't playing particularly crisp, but a few untimely errors by the other team kind of let us off the hook. It was similar to what happened here a little bit, but I like the response in both of those matches.  We came back and started to clean up our side of the net, and that made the difference."
 
In their first match of the day, FGCU scored the first two points in the opening set before committing a service error that put the Privateers on the board. Back-to-back points extended the Eagles lead to three. New Orleans captured four of the next five points, narrowing the gap and increasing the score to 6-5, Eagles. FGCU advanced the score to 8-5 by tallying the next three points with two Privateers errors and a kill by Carroll. The teams split the next 14 points before New Orleans went on a three-point run. The Eagles answered with three scores of their own, including two more errors from the Privateers. After another trio of scores from each team, New Orleans took a time out with FGCU leading 21-18. Following an Eagles error, Carroll and Rhoades posted back-to-back kills. With the score at 23-20, the Privateers went on a four-point run that tied things up at 23-all. A Carroll kill set up a match-point for the Eagles, but was quickly answered by a New Orleans kill from Blessing Dunn. Another kill from Carroll, her sixth of the set, gave FGCU a 25-24 advantage. The Eagles won the set 26-24 after an attack error from the Privateers.
 
FGCU struck first in the second set with back-to-back kills from DeBell and Carroll. A kill from Jordan Yauch gave New Orleans their first points of the set. FGCU picked up momentum, scoring five of the next seven points to push the score to 7-3. Marlene Moeller (Ludinghausen, Germany/Pascal Gymnasium) added two more points with back-to-back kills, increasing the Eagles lead to six. The Privateers responded by capturing three of the next four points. With the score at 10-7 in favor of The Green and Blue, FGCU picked up 13 of the next 15 points including two service aces from Caroline Jordan (Orlando, Fla./William R Boone HS). With the Eagles up 23-9, New Orleans attempted to rally, scoring a kill and a service ace on back-to-back points, but committed errors on the following two plays resulting in a 25-11 set victory for FGCU.
 
At the beginning of the third set, New Orleans got off to a quick 5-1 start over the Eagles, marking their largest lead of the morning. FGCU retaliated with three consecutive kills, two from Rick, that brought the Eagles within a point of the Privateers. The next 12 points, which included a service ace from Rick and a kill from freshman Bailey Johnson (Winter Springs, Fla./Winter Springs HS) – the first of her Eagles career, were split by the two teams. At that point, The Green and Blue went on an eight-point run that included three consecutive service aces from Stephens. Up 19-13, FGCU swapped the next eight scores with the Privateers. Two consecutive New Orleans errors ended the match and gave the Eagles a 25-17 set victory.
 
Box score (pdf) | Box score (xml)
 
In their second match of the day, FGCU started off the first set up 2-0 with a Pudwill kill and a VCU error. VCU kept the score close, exchanging the next 14 points with The Green and Blue. The Eagles extended their lead by two with a Carroll kill and another VCU error, but the Rams immediately responded with four consecutive points. With everything tied up at 11-all, another six points were split by the two teams. Back-to-back scores put FGCU up by one, but VCU answered each Eagles point that followed with a point of their own. Back-to-back kills from DeBell followed by a kill from Carroll pushed the score to 21-17. Once again, the next six points were exchanged as the Eagles fought to maintain their lead. Up 24-21 after a Moeller kill, FGCU captured the set with an attack error on VCU.
 
When play began in the second set, it was VCU who struck first with back-to-back points. The next three scores, including a service ace from Carroll, went to FGCU. The teams swapped the next six points before kills from DeBell and Moeller increased the Eagles lead to three and the score to 8-5. FGCU held onto their advantage as the score climbed to 17-14. Finally, two Rams errors and yet another kill by Carroll gave the Eagles a six-point lead. The gap was narrowed to four after back-to-back kills from Julia Adler of VCU. With the score at 23-19, kills from DeBell and Pudwill sealed 25-19 set win for The Green and Blue.
 
 FGCU gained a 3-0 lead over the Rams to start the third set. After eight points were exchanged by the two teams, the Eagles recorded three consecutive kills that pushed the score to 10-4. Following a service error that gave the Rams their fifth point, FGCU went on a five-point run that included two Pudwill kills and a Carroll service ace. VCU scored three of the next four points, but found their progress stifled when a kill from Moeller started off another five-point Eagles run. Even though FGCU held a 21-8 lead, VCU remained competitive exchanging the next six points with The Green and Blue. A kill by Carroll, her 42^nd of nine two days, decided the set and gave the Eagles their third match victory of the weekend.
 
Box score (pdf) | Box score (xml)
 
SATURDAY SCORES
FGCU vs. New Orleans
Final: FGCU 3, New Orleans 0
 
Delaware vs. VCU
Final: VCU 3, Delaware 1
 
FGCU vs. VCU
Final: FGCU 3, VCU 0
 
UP NEXT
 The Eagles host their second tournament of the season next weekend when they take on South Alabama, Marist and Indiana in the Homewood Suites Classic. FGCU will begin tournament play on Friday, Sept. 9 with a 6 p.m. match against the Jaguars. Action will resume on Saturday, Sept. 10 when The Green and Blue face off against Marist at 10 a.m. before concluding weekend play with a 7 p.m. match against Indiana.
 
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 third year at the helm of the FGCU volleyball program.  His teams have combined for an overall 44-24 (.647) 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.