Orlando, Fla. – The FGCU volleyball team (6-5) split two matches at the Volleyknights Invitational on Friday, capturing a 25-19, 21-25, 25-20, 25-14 win over Yale (5-2) before falling 25-15, 25-20, 25-18 to UCF (8-4).

"We passed the ball extremely well," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "It's rare that you lose in three sets when you're passing the ball like that. It's an indication that UCF figured some things out blocking wise and were controlling the net in a way we couldn't adjust to. But I was pleased with first contact. I thought Karissa (Rhoades) did a really good job for us."

FGCU will close out its action in the weekend event with a 3 p.m. matchup against Alabama State on Saturday.

Five Players Record Double-Digit Digs To Lead FGCU Past Yale In Four Sets

Cortney VanLiew (19 kills) and Daniele Serrano (10 kills) paced the FGCU offensive attack, while Dana Axner led a group of five players in double-digit digs with 16 as the Eagles won the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) recorded her fourth consecutive double-double with a match-high 19 kills, 10 digs, two block assists, one assist and one ace. Serrano (Sanford, Fla./Seminole HS) contributed 10 kills while hitting .400 and tallying three blocks (one solo).

Maggie Rick and Chelsey Lockey combined for 38 digs. Rick (Alpharetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity Catholic HS) grabbed her second straight and fourth double-double of the year with 24 assists, 11 digs, one ace and one block assist. Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) produced her first career double-double with 14 assists and 12 digs.
 
Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) had six assists in addition to her team-high 16 digs, while Karissa Rhoades chipped in 14 digs, which was second on the team.

Giovanna Borgiotti finished third on the team in kills with nine, while Sharonda Pickering contributed six kills over 11 attempts and hit .455. At the net, Kaitlan Krivdo had a team-high seven blocks (one solo), while Serrano and Pickering (Sea Cow's Bay, Tortola, British Virgin Islands/Elmore Stoutt HS) each chipped in three.

FGCU scored seven of the first eight points in the opening set behind kills from Borgiotti (Vienna, Va./George C. Marshall HS), Serrano and Pickering. Yale knotted things at 14 apiece, but kills from Pickering and Krivdo (Hope Mills, N.C./Gray's Creek HS) pushed the margin back up to two.

Then, with Yale down just one late, FGCU closed the set on a 6-1 run, highlighted by two kills apiece from VanLiew and Serrano. The Bulldogs took their first lead of the match on the Eagles at 5-4 in the second, later opened up multiple six-point leads and withstood three straight points from the Eagles late in the set to even things up.

In the third set, Yale continued its momentum and didn't relinquish its lead until three straight points midway through the set gave FGCU a 16-13 lead. Borgiotti had three kills down the stretch to help the Eagles take the set. In the final set, FGCU scored seven of the first nine points and held a 16-13 lead following a kill from VanLiew. Following that, the Eagles scored the final nine points of the match behind multiple kills from VanLiew and several blocks from Krivdo.

Melville's 24 Kills Too Much For FGCU In Straight-Set Loss To UCF

UCF's McKenna Melville had 24 kills and hit .435 against FGCU's defense in what was the first straight-set loss of the season for the Eagles.
 
"I think we got outplayed pretty significantly in the second half of each of those sets," Botsford said. "I thought UCF's blocking really put us in a tough spot, our hitters didn't manage particularly well and our outlet hitting was really poor. We need to be much better in that regard when playing teams of that level."

Borgiotti and Pickering each had a team-high eight kills for FGCU, while Snowy Burnam (Palm City, Fla./Jensen Beach HS) had seven. Rick (19) and Lockey combined for 35 assists. Defensively, Axner and VanLiew led the team with 12 digs apiece, while Rhoades (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior HS) had 10. Rick finished fourth with six.

FGCU hit just .186 as a team compared to .371 for UCF.
 
Notes
Rhoades played in her 100th match in the nightcap against UCF. She is just the 10th player in program history to do so, joining Rick.
 
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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 95-43 (.688) 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.
 
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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.