KENNESAW, Ga. - The top-seeded FGCU volleyball team (25-6) pushed its winning streak to 14 with a 26-24, 25-20, 25-18 win over No. 4 Liberty (15-17) in the ASUN semifinals at the KSU Convocation Center on Friday.

The Green and Blue will now face Kennesaw State (24-6) in Saturday's 7 p.m. championship match. It will be the third consecutive finals appearance for FGCU as they search for the program's first NCAA tournament appearance.

"Tonight was all about our serving and blocking," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "We knew we had to take them out of system if we were going to have a chance to control their very talented middles and opposite. The girls were great from the service line and that made a huge difference."

For the third time in her career, Daniele Serrano tied the program's Division-I era single-match record with 10 total blocks (two solo). Cortney VanLiew, who had a match-high 16 kills, added nine digs, six blocks (two solo) and two aces, while Sharonda Pickering had four blocks. Maggie Rick, who also had two aces, produced a team-high 16 assists, while Chelsey Lockey added 15. Dana Axner (15) and Snowy Burnam (11) combined for 26 digs.

In the opening set, Liberty jumped out to a 16-12 lead following a kill from Anna Gragg. VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS), however, answered with three straight kills to spur a 6-0 run. Moments later, Burnam (Palm City, Fla./Jensen Beach HS) drove home a kill for a 22-20 lead, but Liberty rallied to knot things up at 24 apiece. A service error, followed by a tandem block from Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) and Serrano (Sanford, Fla./Seminole HS) gave FGCU the opening set.

"Maggie was outstanding all night and really got us going, along with Dani, in the second half of that first set," Botsford said.

Once again, Liberty opened up an early lead in the following set, holding four and three-point leads midway through. Down 11-8, FGCU went on a 9-0 run that featured back-to-back solo blocks from VanLiew and a trio of kills from Serrano. Another kill from VanLiew pushed the lead to seven, which helped offset Liberty scoring five of the next six points. Serrano finished the set with a successful attack off a pass from Rick (Alpharetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity Catholic HS).

The third set held true to the earlier ones as Liberty scored six of the first nine points before seeing FGCU go on a 6-0 run to seize a 15-8 lead. The stretch was capped by three consecutive kills from VanLiew as the Eagles eventually doubled up the Flames, 18-9. The match concluded with a double-block from VanLiew and Tori Morris (Virginia Beach, Va./Floyd E. Kellam HS).

Burnam (7) and Serrano (6) combined for 13 kills to assist VanLiew as FGCU won despite hitting just .163 as a team. Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) produced her 19th consecutive and 28th match overall this year with 10+ digs. It was also her 21st match with 15+ digs.

"While we weren't as crisp as we would have liked offensively," Botsford said, "the fact that this team can rely on other areas to manufacture points is what has made this group so successful this year."

APPROACHING HISTORY
Axner now has 551 digs this year, which is just eight shy of eclipsing Vanessa Benke's Division-I era single-season record of 558 set in 2015. The all-time record is 606, set by Whitney Hendry in 2005, which was when FGCU was a Division-II program. Furthermore, Axner needs two more digs to move into the top 15 on the program's all-time career list, which would put her 11th in the Division-I era.

NOTES
FGCU is now 9-8 all-time in the ASUN tournament dating back to their first appearance in 2009… This will be the team's fourth all-time appearance in the championship match (0-3)… They are 1-2 all-time against Kennesaw State in the tournament, including a 3-0 loss last year…The team's 14-match winning streak is now tied for the third-longest in the program's Division-I era with the 2007 team…With a win on Saturday, the Green and Blue would match the 2012 and 2016 team for the longest in the era.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
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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 114-44 (.722) record overall, including a 57-15 (.792) record in ASUN play. Including this season, 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 four straight seasons and at least 10 wins in conference play five 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.

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 contribute, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help.

FOOD DRIVE
FGCU is collecting food donations at home events all during November to benefit FGCU Campus and Harry Chapin Food Banks. Donations can be dropped off at the marketing table in the Alico Arena lobby.

TOY DRIVE
The FGCU athletic and police departments, Lee County Sheriff's Office and Heroes Unlimited have teamed up to participate in a holiday toy drive. New, unwrapped toys are being collected and will be delivered to the Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida this holiday season. Collection boxes have been placed in the lobbies of Alico Arena, UPD and the FGCU Family Resource Center until Wednesday, Dec. 14. No toy is too small, and all toys will be wrapped prior to delivery.