JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Maggie Rick reached 4,000 career assists as the FGCU volleyball team (8-5, 1-0 ASUN) overcame a slow start to produce a 25-23, 25-8, 25-15 victory over Jacksonville (1-13, 0-2 ASUN) on the road Friday evening.

"Our middles and Sharonda led the charge and were very effective, both blocking and attacking," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "I thought Jacksonville did a good job at the service line pressuring us out of the gate, and we will need to manage our first contact better moving forward. We have seen a lot of progress in that department, but we weren't as crisp as we have been. I was pleased with our response after a shaky start, although we need to play smarter from the opening whistle and do a better job putting our setters in position to create for our offense."

Rick (Alpharetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity Catholic HS), who entered the match needing just 13 assists to become the second player in program history (Gigi Meyer, 2011-14) with 4,000, tallied a match-high 22 assists, six digs and two kills. She now has 4,009 assists over 110 career matches and is 400 shy of surpassing Meyer's place atop the list.

Rick Career Assist Milestones
1 – vs New Orleans on Aug. 28, 2015
1,000 – vs Jacksonville on Oct. 31, 2015
2,000 – vs North Florida on Oct. 25, 2016
3,000 – vs Stetson on Sept. 23, 2017
4,000 – vs Jacksonville on Sept. 21, 2018

The match itself saw FGCU start slow, as they trailed 18-14 in the opening set following six straight from the Dolphins. From there, however, the Green and Blue took control. An ace from Kaitlan Krivdo tied the set at 21, and the Eagles scored six of the final eight points. The run continued with 12 of the first 14 points in the second as they opened up a 20-4 lead and cruised to a 17-point victory. In the final set, the Eagles led by two midway through before rattling off 10 of the final 12 points.

Sharonda Pickering, Cortney VanLiew and Giovanna Borgiotti each tallied a team-high eight kills. Dana Axner notched a team-high 10 digs in what was her 10th double-digit performance of the season, while VanLiew added nine. Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) finished second on the team in assists with 13, which was the 10th double-digit performance of her rookie campaign.

Pickering (Sea Cow's Bay, Tortola, British Virgin Islands) continued a torrid stretch as the nation's seventh most efficient attacker hit .583. She is now hitting .449 this year, which is on pace to shatter Cara Ziegler's single season record, and her career percentage (.393) is inching closer to Ziegler's record of .403.

VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS), who ranks sixth all-time in program history with 3.19 kills per set, fell just two kills and one dig shy of her fifth double-double of the season. Her streak of six consecutive double-digit dig performances also came to an end.

Borgiotti (Vienna, Va./George C. Marshall HS), who hit .316 over 19 attempts against Jacksonville, tallied at least seven kills for the sixth time over the past seven matches. Furthermore, she is now just five kills shy of 400 in her career, which places her 17th all-time in the program's Division-I era, 39 shy of Ashley Yance in 16th.

Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS), who added three more assists on Friday, eclipsed 200 assists on the season and sits at 202. Despite just being 13 matches into her career, her 4.39 digs per set is currently on pace to be the second best in program history, and it is on pace to be the third best single-season average in the program's Division-I era.

In addition to her offensive prowess, Pickering joined Snowy Burnam (Palm City, Fla./Jensen Beach HS) and Daniele Serrano to compile the team's three solo blocks on Friday. Krivdo (Hope Mills, N.C./Gray's Creek HS) led the way in block assists with two, while adding a season-high in kills (7) and registering a season-best attack percentage (.600).

Serrano (Sanford, Fla./Seminole HS) added four kills at a .444 clip. She is now 16th all-time in career kills with 473, which is eight shy of surpassing Brittany Muse for 15th. On top of that, she ranks fourth in career attack percentage (.352) needs five more solo blocks to move into third-place. Karissa Rhoades (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior HS), who added six digs, now has 810 in her career, which is 75 shy of eighth-most all-time.

NEXT UP
The Eagles will be back in action Saturday at 6 p.m. against North Florida. Following that, they will conclude a stretch of seven straight matches on the road against NJIT and North Alabama next weekend.
 
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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 97-43 (.693) record overall, including a 43-14 (.754) 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.