FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU volleyball team (4-3) got a season-high 14 kills from
Giovanna Borgiotti, but Albany recovered from an early deficit to pull off a 22-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15-9 victory in the Homewood Suites Fort Myers/FGCU Classic in Alico Arena on Friday.
"I thought Albany did a great job coming back after being down in a 2-0 hole," FGCU head coach
Matt Botsford said. "We did not adapt particularly well after that second set."
The Green and Blue will look to bounce back on Saturday beginning with a 10:30 a.m. match against Western Illinois before closing out the event with a 7 p.m. tilt against West Virginia.
In the fifth set, FGCU scored six of the first eight points and held a 7-4 lead following a kill from
Borgiotti (Vienna, Va./George C. Marshall HS), but Albany answered with three straight. The Eagles got two straight following that, capped by a double block from
Sharonda Pickering and
Kaitlan Krivdo (Hope Mills, N.C./Gray's Creek HS), but the visitors then scored the final eight points to take the match.
Borgiotti finished with 14 kills, eight digs and two block assists. It was her fifth career outing with at least that many kills, and she fell just two shy of matching her career-high set on Oct. 25, 2016 against Bethune-Cookman.
Meanwhile, FGCU had four players reach double figures in kills for the first time this season as
Cortney VanLiew added 13, while
Daniele Serrano and
Pickering (Sea Cow's Bay, Tortola, British Virgin Islands/Elmore Stout HS) each recorded 11.
VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) has now produced double digit kills in three straight and six of seven matches this season. She also has at least eight digs in five of those matches, including 10 on Friday for her first double-double of the season and the seventh of her career.
Serrano (Sanford, Fla./Seminole HS) hit a team-high .308 while adding three block assists along with her season-high 11 kills, topping her previous best of 10 set against Florida Atlantic in the season opener. She has produced at least a .300 hitting percentage in four of seven matches this year.
For Pickering, her 11 kills is a new career-high, and they came at a .304 clip. She topped her previous career-high of nine kills set just last weekend against New Mexico State, while adding four block assists and a pair of digs.
On the defensive side,
Dana Axner had a team-high 19 digs, falling just one shy of matching her season-high. It was the freshman's fifth match with double-digit digs, and she has at least eight in each one. In addition to VanLiew's 10 digs,
Snowy Burnam (9), Borgiotti (8),
Maggie Rick (7),
Chelsey Lockey (6) and
Karissa Rhoades (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior HS) with five also contributed in that category.
Rick (Alpharetta, Gla./Blessed Trinity Catholic HS) easily shattered her season-high in assists with 42. It was her 24th career match with at least 40, and she finished with four kills and one block assist.
Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) and
Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) tied for second on the team in assists with six apiece. For Axner, that was a season-high.
TOURNAMENT UPDATE
The Homewood Suites Fort Myers/FGCU Classic will conclude on Saturday with three more matches:
10:30 AM – FGCU vs Western Illinois
1 PM – West Virginia vs Albany
7 PM – FGCU vs West Virginia
The other results on Friday included Albany and West Virginia each sweeping Western Illinois.
Following the final match on Saturday, an all-tournament team and champion will be crowned.
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 an 93-41 (.694) 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.
