DELAND, Fla. - Maggie Rick became the program's all-time assist leader as the VolleyballMag.com Mid-Major No. 25-ranked FGCU volleyball team (23-6, 14-1 ASUN) pulled out a come-from-behind 21-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-18 win over Stetson (16-11, 8-7) on the road Tuesday to clinch at least a share of the program's first ASUN regular season championship in six years.

"What I'm most happy about as I think about the way things unfolded is our response as a group in that second set," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "Nothing was working, and we were on the verge of falling into an 0-2 hole, but we kept fighting. There were some big plays made at some big moments to give us a chance."

The Green and Blue, who can clinch the title outright with a victory at home over Liberty on Saturday in the team's regular season finale, also clinched the top seed in the upcoming ASUN tournament. It is the program's fourth regular season title, joining the 2007, 2008 and 2012 teams.

Rick (Alpharetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity Catholic HS) fittingly produced a season-high 48 assists along with 10 digs to shatter Gigi Meyer's (4,408, 2011-14) career assist record. It was her third 40-plus assist match of the season and the 26th of her career. She now has 4,430 overall and becomes the only player in program history with four of the top 10 single season assist totals. Her double-double was the 10th of the season, which doubles her career total entering this year.

Moreover, the senior also surpassed Kennesaw State's Sara Metroka (4,427, 2010-13) for fifth-place on the ASUN's all-time assist list.

1. Colleen Nilson (Belmont, 2004-07) – 5,636
2. April DeCoste (Georgia State, 2001-04) – 5,391
3. Stefine "Jake" Pease (Lipscomb, 2007-10) – 5,159
4. Kendall Courtney (Jacksonville, 2010-13) – 4,851
5. Maggie Rick (FGCU, 2015-present) – 4,430
6. Sara Metroka (Kennesaw State, 2010-13) – 4,427
7. Gigi Meyer (FGCU, 2011-14) – 4,408
8. Jenny Frank (UCF, 2001-03) – 4,102
9. Kristi Piedimonte (Kennesaw State, 2014-17) – 4,005
10. Kayla Weller (Stetson, 2012-15) – 3,789

Rick also tied Courtney Stephens (2014-17), Meyer (2011-14) and Whitney Masters (2011-14) for the program's matches played mark with 126. She is slated to break the record on Saturday.

"Maggie had another great night and what a memorable match for her to break the record," Botsford said. "Winning a regular season championship and becoming the all-time assist leader is pretty fitting."

ASUN Roundup
Along with Kennesaw State's win over Lipscomb on Tuesday, the top three seeds in the upcoming ASUN tournament are locked up. FGCU would hold the tiebreaker over Kennesaw State due to scoring more points head-to-head.

1. FGCU - 23-6, 14-1
2. Kennesaw State - 22-6, 13-2
3. Lipscomb - 16-11, 11-4
4. Liberty - 13-15, 9-5
5. Stetson - 16-11, 8-7
6. North Florida - 9-21, 4-10
7. Jacksonville - 5-22, 3-11
T-8. North Alabama - 4-20, 2-13
T-8. NJIT - 4-27, 2-13

Streaking
In addition to the clinching news, FGCU also pushed its winning streak to 12-straight, which ties the 2008 team for the fourth longest streak in program history.

2016 - 15 straight
2012 - 15 straight
2007 - 14 straight
2008 - 12 straight
2018 - 12 straight

Offensive Showcase
Snowy Burnam and Cortney VanLiew each had a match-high 19 kills, while producing double-doubles with 13 and 10 digs, respectively. Daniele Serrano added 16 kills while hitting .462 and adding four blocks (one solo), while Sharonda Pickering had nine kills, three digs and one solo block. Overall, the team had 70 kills at a .333 clip while tallying only 15 errors over 165 attempts.

Burnam (Palm City, Fla./Jensen Beach HS) recorded a new career-high in kills while hitting .429. She has three consecutive double-doubles, along with five straight matches with double-digit digs. All five of her double-doubles this year have come over the past nine matches.

VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) continued to roll by picking up her fourth consecutive match with at least 15 kills along with her 11th double-double of the season. She also became only the sixth player in the program's Division-I era with at least 700 career kills and sits nine shy of surpassing Jill Hopper (725, 2011-13) for fifth-most. Furthermore, she has 409 kills this year, joining just three others to surpass 400 in a season. In fact, she's only seven short of passing Amanda Carroll's (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia HS) 2015 total for third-most in a single season.

Serrano (Sanford, Fla./Seminole HS), meanwhile, also produced a new career-high in kills. She pushed her career block total to 337, which is six shy of surpassing Olivia Mesner (342, 2011-14) for the program's all-time record. She already holds several other records.

Career Solo Blocks
1. 62 - Olivia Mesner, 2011-14
2. 51 - Ericka Fonseca, 2005-06
3. 50 - Daniele Serrano, 2016-present

Career Block Assists
1. 287 - Daniele Serrano, 2016-present
2. 280 - Olivia Mesner, 2011-14
3. 242 - Ashley Yance, 2005-09

Career Total Blocks
1. 342 - Olivia Mesner, 2011-14
2. 337 - Daniele Serrano, 2016-present
3. 287 - Ashley Yance, 2005-09

Single Season Block Assists
1. 119 - Daniele Serrano, 2018
2. 101 - Olivia Mesner, 2012
T-3. 99 - Sharonda Pickering, 2018
T-3. 99 - Ericka Fonseca, 2005
5. 98 - Daniele Serrano, 2016
 
Single Season Total Blocks
1. 136 - Daniele Serrano, 2018
2. 127 - Ericka Fonseca, 2005
3. 120 - Ericka Fonseca, 2006

Tough Battle
The Eagles scored four of the first five points in the opening set, but Stetson responded and eventually took a 9-8 lead and didn't relinquish it en route to a 25-21 victory.

FGCU led 12-7 in the next set, but a 10-2 run gave Stetson a three-point lead, and they eventually led 20-16 and appeared to be on the verge of going up two sets. However, VanLiew and Serrano answered with back-to-back kills off passes from Rick, and then Serrano teamed with Giovanna Borgiotti for a block to cut the deficit to one.

Stetson ended the run, but Borgiotti (Vienna, Va./George C. Marshall HS) spurred another 3-0 run with a kill, and Pickering (Sea Cow's Bay, Tortola, British Virgin Islands/Elmore Stoutt HS) had a solo block to make it 22-21. The senior middle blocker then finished the set with a kill as the Eagles scored three of the final four points.
 
"Tonight was a tough one, from start to finish," Botsford said. "Stetson played really well and had us on our heels those first two sets. I thought our offense found a nice rhythm in sets three and four, and our sideout game really picked up."

From there, FGCU continued to gain momentum. With the third set tied at five, VanLiew took a pass from Chelsey Lockey and delivered the first of back-to-back kills. With a 12-11 lead, the Green and Blue went on a 6-0 run and eventually led by as many as eight en route to a 2-1 lead. Despite a service error to open the fourth set, FGCU scored the next three points and never relinquished the lead again. They essentially sealed the set with five straight points, capped by back-to-back kills from VanLiew and Serrano that made it 18-12.

They're Just Freshmen
While Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) finished second on the team with 15 assists along with five digs, Tori Morris (Virginia Beach, Va./Floyd E. Kellam HS) added four kills over five attempts.

They were both outdone by Dana Axner, however, who led all players with 27 digs, while adding three assists and one ace. Her defensive tally is tied for the fourth-most in a four-set match in the Division-I era. More impressively, though, she became the third player in the same era to surpass 500 digs in one season. She now has 514 this season, which is six shy of Whitney Masters (519, 2014) in second and 45 short of becoming the single season leader, a record currently held by Vanessa Benke (558, 2015). The overall record is 606, set by Whitney Hendry in 2005.

A Rare Feat
With her three assists on Tuesday, Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) now has 101 this year, which gives FGCU a trio of players with 100 or more assists for only the second time in program history. Along with Rick (745) and Lockey (394), the trio joins the 2012 group of Gigi Meyer (683), Courtney Greenberg (510) and Whitney Masters (121).

SERIES HISTORY
FGCU is now 21-2 all-time against Stetson with 11 consecutive wins.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
For up-to-the minute information and a behind-the-scenes look at the FGCU volleyball program, follow us on Twitter at @FGCU_VB, on Facebook at /FGCUVolleyball and on Instagram at @FGCU_VB.
 
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 112-44 (.718) record overall, including a 56-15 (.789) 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.

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.

VETERANS APPRECIATION
Veterans Appreciation is all weekend in Alico Arena, including the men's basketball home opener against Southeastern on Thursday, volleyball senior night on Saturday against Liberty and the women's basketball home opener on Monday against Florida Memorial. Veterans will receive free admission with valid ID and accompanying family members receive tickets for half price. As part of the celebration on Thursday and Monday, service pictures of our fans will be shared on Eagle Vision and service hymns will be played during media timeouts as we honor veterans with a certificate of appreciation from FGCU Athletics as well as a free barbeque sandwich from Mission BBQ.

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.