­MIAMI, Fla. – The FGCU volleyball team split a pair of matches on Friday against Florida Atlantic and Central Florida in the Sunshine State Challenge to open its 2018 season.

The Eagles, who are now 9-6 all-time in season openers with their 25-20, 26-24, 26-24 victory over FAU, fell 25-16, 14-25, 25-21, 25-16 against UCF in the finale. They will close out their play in the event with an 11 a.m. matchup against Miami on Saturday.

"Ball control had a big impact in both matches," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "In the morning, it helped us kick off the offense with solid first contact, and this afternoon we struggled in that area and became very predictable. Our focus has to be on maintaining a higher level of consistency throughout the course of the match so we can manage point runs a bit better."

FGCU vs FAU
In the opener, Cortney VanLiew paced the Green and Blue by tying her career-high for kills with 17. She pounded down eight of those in the opening set, including four over a five-point stretch with her team down 15-13 midway through. Each of those came on assists from Chelsey Lockey, and the final one allowed the Green and Blue to open up an 18-15 lead.

Following VanLiew's (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) start, the duo of Amanda Carroll and Daniele Serrano combined to split four kills down the stretch as the Eagles closed the set on a 4-0 run.

After FGCU scored three of the first four points in the second, neither team led by more than one point until an attack error by the Green and Blue gave FAU a 12-10 lead. The Owls continued that momentum and eventually opened up a 19-16 lead following another attack error.

The Eagles responded, however, behind four straight points via a kill from VanLiew, an ace from Maggie Rick and back-to-back block assists from Serrano (Sanford, Fla./Seminole HS) and Snowy Burnam that resulted in a one-point lead. That advantage disappeared when FAU took a trio of two-point leads, the third of which gave them a pair of set points.

VanLiew then began a 4-0 run to win the set. The sophomore outside hitter hammered down an attack before a pair of solo blocks from Tori Morris and an assisted block from Serrano and Burnam (Palm City, Fla./Jensen Beach HS).
 
The third set featured a match-high 17 ties and eight lead changes. Morris (Virginia Beach, Va./Floyd E. Kellam HS) teamed with Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia HS) to produce back-to-back blocks to open the frame before the teams went back-and-forth – eventually resulting in a 17-14 FAU lead.
 
Down the stretch, FGCU's offense was too much for FAU as both VanLiew and Serrano tallied three kills after their team trailed by three. Carroll chipped in two more as the Eagles scored 10 of the team's final 12 points of the match via successful attacks.

VanLiew tied her career-high in kills set on Sept. 9 against Davidson last year. It was her 19th match with at least 10 while wearing the Green and Blue. Serrano added her ninth career double-digit kill performance by finishing with 10 along with four block assists.

Rick (Alpharetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity Catholic HS) contributed a team-high in assists (23) and service aces (2), while adding eight digs. Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) added 12 assists while Dana Axner led the team with 12 digs - both of which came in their collegiate debuts, while another freshman – Morris – led the team in blocks with four solo and three assisted.

"Dana has done an outstanding job for us in the libero jersey through her first couple of matches," Botsford said. "She is extending plays, communicating well and been really stable in serve receive."

Overall, the match featured 41 ties and 19 lead changes.
 
FGCU is now 4-6 all-time against FAU, including wins in two of the past three matchups. Friday represented the first neutral site meeting, while the Eagles also earned its first sweep of the Owls since Nov. 1, 2011.
 
FGCU vs UCF
The Eagles got another big offensive performance from VanLiew, and Carroll produced her first double-double of the season, but UCF pulled off the win in four sets.

VanLiew finished with 16 kills and added eight digs to record her 20th career game with 10 or more kills, while Carroll had 13 kills and 15 digs. She upped her Division-I era program record career double-double total to 42, which is now eight shy of matching Brooke Youngquist-Sweat's overall program record.

Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS), once again, led the Eagles defensively with 20 digs, while Burnam chipped in 15 digs along with three assists and two kills. Rick tallied 32 assists to lead the team. She now has at least 20 assists in 98 of 99 career matches, 47 of which have seen her with at least 30.

FGCU is now 1-4 all-time against UCF. This was also the first-ever neutral site matchup between the two teams.
 
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COACH BOTSFORD
Matt Botsford is entering his fifth season as head coach of the FGCU women's volleyball program in 2018. He was hired on Feb. 10, 2014. In his four seasons, Botsford-led teams have compiled an 90-39 (.698) record overall, including a 42-14 (.750) 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 make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help.