LYNCHBURG, Va. – Maggie Rick tallied 45 assists to finish just one shy of her season-high, added 10 digs and led the FGCU volleyball team (14-6, 7-1 ASUN) to a 23-25, 25-20, 25-22, 17-25, 15-5 win over Liberty (7-13, 4-3) on the road Friday.

With the win, the Green and Blue not only improved to 1-2 in five-set matches this season, but picked up a victory in the first-ever matchup between the two teams and stayed just a half-game behind Kennesaw State (7-0) for first-place in the ASUN standings.

"That was a really exciting match, and I was pleased with the composure our girls showed throughout," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "We had a tough time slowing down their offense but in the fifth set Dani and Sharonda found a nice blocking groove to get us off to the start we needed. Those two were very consistent all night and their steadiness was a huge reason we came away with this win."

The opening set featured back and forth action until Liberty went on an 8-2 run to open up a 23-17 lead. Cortney VanLiew had a pair of kills to lead a 6-2 surge to close the set for the Eagles, but it wasn't enough. That momentum, however, carried her team to five straight and nine of the first 10 points the following set. Liberty pulled within one, but a kill from Rick (Alpharetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity Catholic HS) and an ace from Dana Axner spurred a 9-4 run that eventually tied up the match.

Neither team led by more than four in the third set, but both of those four-point leads were by FGCU, who got a kill from Daniele Serrano to take a 22-18 margin. Snowy Burnam then answered back-to-back points from Liberty with a right-side kill to finish off a three-point victory. The Flames took control of the fourth set midway through, led 22-14 and eventually forced a fifth-set.

In the fifth set, Serrano (Sanford, Fla./Seminole HS) and Sharonda Pickering had back-to-back kills to start things off. Following that, a crucial play happened as Serrano and VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) appeared to successfully double-block a Casey Goodwin attack by Liberty, but it was called out. Head coach Matt Botsford challenged the call, and the ruling was reversed. The play spurred what became a 5-0 run as the Eagles eventually took a 10-3 lead before later closing the set on another 5-0 outburst, highlighted by two kills from Rick and two more from Kaitlan Krivdo (Hope Mills, N.C./Gray's Creek HS) and Burnam (Palm City, Fla./Jensen Beach HS).

In addition to her 45 assists and 10 digs, Rick added five kills over 10 attempts plus two aces and one block assist. It was her seventh double-double of the season, which pushes her career total to 17. She also reached 40 assists for the third time this season and the 26th time in her career. Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) finished second on the team with seven assists, while Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) had six.

Burnam and Karissa Rhoades (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior HS), who added four digs, each matched Rick for the team-high in aces, while Axner added one of her own. VanLiew had both of the team's solo blocks, which doubled her season total, while Pickering (Sea Cow's Bay, Tortola, British Virgin Islands/Elmore Stoutt HS) had a team-high eight block assists. Serrano chipped in seven as the duo combined for 15 of the team's 22 assisted stuffs.

Defensively, Axner had a team-high 18 digs. Burnam added nine digs and also finished second on the team with a season-high 12 kills at a .290 clip. VanLiew led the team offensively with 22 kills (.333) and had six digs, while Pickering contributed 10 kills at a .563 rate and added a career-high five digs.

As a team, FGCU hit .293 over 150 attempts, which was their fourth-highest total of the season. The team's 22 block assists is also the fourth-best this year.

UP NEXT
FGCU will be back in action against Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday at 6 p.m. to conclude a two-match road trip.

NOTES
Rick pushed her career assist total to 4,197, which is just 212 shy of eclipsing Gigi Meyer (4,408, 2011-14) for the program record. Her two aces give her 85, which is three shy of Jill Hopper (88, 2011-13) for sixth-most in the program's Division-I era. She also tied Holly Youngquist (418, 2008-11) for the fifth-most sets played.

Axner moved up one spot to 14th on the program's Division-I era list for most digs in a season. She now has 336, which is two shy of matching Holly Youngquist (338, 2008) and nine shy of eclipsing both Brooke Youngquist (2007) and Amanda Carroll (2017), who each had 344.

UPDATED ASUN STANDINGS
1. Kennesaw State – 16-4, 7-0
2. FGCU – 14-6, 7-1
3. Lipscomb – 10-8, 5-1
4. Stetson – 12-7, 4-3
4. Liberty – 7-13, 4-3
6. North Florida – 7-16, 2-5
6. NJIT – 4-17, 2-5
8. Jacksonville – 2-17, 1-6
9. North Alabama – 2-14, 0-7
 
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COACH BOTSFORD
Matt Botsford is in his fifth season as head coach of the FGCU women's volleyball program in 2018 after being hired on Feb. 10, 2014. In his four plus seasons, Botsford-led teams have compiled a 103-44 (.701) record overall, including a 49-15 (.766) record in ASUN play. He has taken the program to heights it has not seen in the Division-I era (2007-present) – registering at least 20 wins overall in three straight seasons and at least 10 wins in conference play four straight seasons. Furthermore, the team's offensive efficiency has drastically improved since Botsford started. In his first two seasons, his squad produced hitting percentages of .212 and .220. The past two, which have seen .267 and .256 percentages, are the third and fourth highest in program history. All four seasons under Botsford have seen a top-3 ASUN regular season finish and at least an ASUN semifinal appearance. His first two campaigns resulted in regular season runner-up finishes, and the past two have seen the Eagles advance to the tournament championship. On Sept. 10, 2016, Botsford led his team to a five-set win over Indiana in Alico Arena, which signified the program's first-ever win over a team from a Power-5 conference.
 
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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 contribute, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help.