KENNESAW, Ga. - The ASUN regular season championship will be on the line this weekend as the FGCU volleyball team (24-3, 12-1) will hit the road to take on Kennesaw State (16-8, 9-3) and Lipscomb (12-11, 8-4) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m., respectively.
With a win over the Owls on Friday, the Eagles would clinch the program's second straight outright ASUN regular season championship, along with the No. 1 seed and quarterfinal round bye in the ASUN tournament that accompanies it. Lose and FGCU would have to defeat both Lipscomb on Sunday and NJIT on Nov. 15 to win the title outright.
Kennesaw State is one of just two teams (Stetson) to take a set from FGCU in conference play outside of its ASUN-opening loss to Liberty. In fact, the Eagles have reeled off 25-consecutive set victories dating back to that Oct. 13 win over the Owls, which is the second-longest streak in the Green and Blue's Division I era - just five behind tying the 2007 team's 30-set streak.
FGCU will also enter the weekend with the second-most victories in the nation (24) and the seventh-longest overall winning streak (14), which is just two shy of matching last year's team for the longest in program history.
Most Division I victories
1. Stephen F. Austin - 25
2. FGCU - 24
Western Kentucky - 24
South Dakota - 24
5. Colorado State - 23
Pittsburgh - 23
Milwaukee - 23
8. New Mexico State - 22
Robert Morris - 22
10. Five others - 21
Longest Division I winning streaks
1. Colorado State - 22
2. Western Kentucky - 21
South Dakota - 21
4. Stephen F. Austin - 18
5. Fairfield - 17
6. Towson - 16
7. FGCU - 14
New Mexico State - 14
Creighton - 14
10. VCU - 10
ASUN Roundup
A win on Friday would put the Eagles up at least three games on every other school with two remaining, thus clinching the ASUN title outright.
*1. FGCU - 24-3, 12-1
*2. Kennesaw State - 16-8, 9-3
*3. Liberty - 16-9, 9-4
4. Lipscomb - 12-11, 8-4
5. Stetson - 10-12, 7-5
6. North Florida - 13-15, 5-7
7. Jacksonville - 9-18, 5-8
8. North Alabama - 3-23, 1-12
9. NJIT - 1-27, 0-12
*clinched ASUN tournament berth
Series History
The Eagles are 16-10 all-time against Kennesaw State, including this year's four-set win on Oct. 13 in Alico Arena. The two teams have had a close rivalry over the past several seasons, splitting the past two ASUN tournament championships. FGCU has claimed wins in three straight entering Friday's match, but they've split the past 10 meetings overall.
Against Lipscomb, FGCU has won five straight matches while dropping just two sets. That has come after a stretch where the Bisons won 15 of 18. The Eagles claimed a sweep over Lipscomb on Sept. 29 behind 22 kills from
Cortney VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS).
Highest RPI
FGCU was ranked 44th in the season's first official RPI rankings, which was the highest in program history. They were ranked 48th the following week, 52nd the week after that and 63rd last week. This week, the Eagles jumped up to 55th, which remains the highest among all conference teams.
#55 FGCU
#105 Kennesaw State
#128 Liberty
#168 Lipscomb
#219 Stetson
#251 North Florida
#283 Jacksonville
#305 North Alabama
#319 NJIT
Green and Blue Notes
Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS), who was recently honored for reaching 1,000 career digs, is just five shy of passing Courtney Stephens (1,084, 2014-17) for the fourth-most digs in the program's Division I era. She has extended her season-high streak of matches with 10 or more digs to 19 after having her career-high 28-match streak snapped on Sept. 13 against Indiana, which was the only time this year she failed to record at least 10 and was a streak that dated back to Sept. 21 of last year. Nationally, her 456 digs overall and 5.30 per set rank 38th and 15th, respectively, and she is the reigning ASUN defensive player of the week. In fact, the selection tied her for the most career such awards in ASUN history with five.
Daniele Serrano (Sanford, Fla./Seminole HS), who already holds all of FGCU's career blocking records, continues her chase to become the ASUN's all-time blocks leader. She currently sits second with 455.0, just 20 shy of surpassing Meredith Hardy's (ETSU, 2010-13, 474.0) all-time mark. The senior middle blocker is the reigning ASUN player of the week.
Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) has tallied at least 20 assists in every match this year, as well as 30 or more in 24 of 27 matches. Furthermore, she has nine matches with at least 40, including a career-high 54 against San Diego State on Aug. 31 and UCF on Sept. 20. She has six double-doubles this year in assists and digs, as well as two matches with at least 30 assists, five kills, five digs and two blocks. With her 37th and final assist against North Florida on Nov. 3, she produced the 10th season with at least 1,000 in program history.
ASUN Leaders (Top 10 through Nov. 6)
Kills - VanLiew (2nd, 355)
Kills/Set - VanLiew (1st, 4.13)
Hitting Percentage - Serrano (8th, .319), Jones (9th, .308)
Assists - Lockey (3rd, 1,001)
Assists/Set - Lockey (2nd, 11.25)
Aces - Carroll (4th, 34)
Digs - Axner (3rd, 456)
Digs/Set - Axner (1st, 5.30)
Solo Blocks - Serrano (T-3rd, 13), Morris (9th, 10), VanLiew (T-10th, 9)
Block Assists - Serrano (T-2nd, 79), Morris (8th, 68)
Total Blocks - Serrano (2nd, 92), Morris (T-7th, 78)
Blocks/Set - Serrano (1.11), Morris (T-4th, 1.08), Jones (8th, 0.90)
Points - VanLiew (3rd, 400.5)
Points/Set - VanLiew (T-1st, 4.7)
NCAA Individual Leaders (Top 50 through Nov. 6)
Assists/Set - Lockey (17th, 11.24)
Attacks/Set - VanLiew (49th, 10.83)
Digs/Set - Axner (15th, 5.30)
Kills/Set - VanLiew (38th, 4.13)
Points - VanLiew (45th, 401.0)
Points/Set - VanLiew (37th, 4.66)
Total Assists - Lockey (10th, 1,001)
Total Digs - Axner (38th, 456)
Total Kills - VanLiew (46th, 355)
NCAA Team Leaders (Top 50 through Nov. 6)
Assists/Set - 34th, 12.80
Blocks/Set - 36th, 2.53
Hitting Percentage - 23rd, .270
Kills/Set - 37th, 13.67
W/L Percentage - 9th, .889
Opponent Hitting Percentage - 3rd, .126
Blocks - 33rd, 225
FGCU CAREER RECORD BOOK (DIVISION I ERA, 2007-PRESENT)
Kills
1. 1,452 - Amanda CARROLL (.257) - 2015-present
2. 1,145 - Cortney VANLIEW (.236) - 2017-present
3. 1,132 - Olivia MESNER (.331) - 2011-14
4. 961 - Jessica BARNES (.194) - 2010-11,13-14
5. 926 - Kaitlin HOLM (.227) - 2011-13
6. 796 - Daniele SERRANO (.341) - 2016-present
7. 725 - Jill HOPPER (.203) - 2011-13
8. 693 - Eleonora KAZARIAN (.225) - 2014-15
9. 678 - Ana KOKANOVIC (.281) - 2007-08
10. 649 - Jelena SIMIC (.206) - 2009,11
Attack attempts
1. 3,758 - Amanda CARROLL (1,452-486-3,758) - 2015-present
2. 3,158 - Cortney VANLIEW (1,145-400-3,158) - 2017-present
3. 2,725 - Jessica BARNES (961-433-2,725) - 2010-11,13-14
4. 2,449 - Kaitlin HOLM (926-371-2,449) - 2011-13
5. 2,356 - Olivia MESNER (1,132-353-2,356) - 2011-14
6. 1,889 - Jill HOPPER (725-342-1,889) - 2011-13
7. 1,846 - Jelena SIMIC (649-269-1,846) - 2009,11
8. 1,808 - Eleonora KAZARIAN (693-287-1,808) - 2014-15
1,808 - Daniele SERRANO (796-180-1,808) - 2016-present
10. 1,735 - Snowy BURNAM (619-206-1,735) - 2017-present
Digs
1. 1,687 - Whitney MASTERS (483 sets) - 2011-14
2. 1,652 - Holly YOUNGQUIST (418 sets) - 2008-11
3. 1,193 - Amanda CARROLL (432 sets) - 2015-present
4. 1,084 - Courtney STEPHENS (451 sets) - 2014-17
5. 1,080 - Dana AXNER (206 sets) - 2018-present
6. 947 - Gigi MEYER (474 sets) - 2011-14
7. 877 - Karissa RHOADES (379 sets) - 2015-18
8. 823 - Maggie RICK (467 sets) - 2015-18
9. 718 - Cortney VANLIEW (311 sets) - 2017-present
10. 681 - Vanessa BENKE (164 sets) - 2013-15
Assists
1. 4,540 - Maggie RICK (467 sets) - 2015-18
2. 4,408 - Gigi MEYER (474 sets) - 2011-14
3. 1,668 - Chandra LEFEVER (201 sets) - 2007,09
4. 1,476 - Chelsey LOCKEY (199 sets) - 2018-present
5. 1,475 - Roberta SANTOS (180 sets) - 2007-08
6. 1,089 - Camil DOMINGUEZ (164 sets) - 2010-11
7. 510 - Courtney GREENBERG (115 sets) - 2012-13
8. 309 - Whitney MASTERS (483 sets) - 2011-14
9. 238 - Holly YOUNGQUIST (418 sets) - 2008-11
10. 193 - Dana AXNER (206 sets) - 2018-present
Solo Blocks
1. 67 - Daniele SERRANO (423 sets) - 2016-present
2. 62 - Olivia MESNER (428 sets) - 2011-14
3. 42 - Amanda CARROLL (432 sets) - 2015-present
4. 41 - Ashley YANCE (296 sets) - 2007-09
5. 38 - Kaitlin HOLM (359 sets) - 2011-13
6. 24 - Cortney VANLIEW (311 sets) - 2017-present
24 - Sharonda PICKERING (168 sets) - 2017-18
8. 23 - Jacqueline COWDEN (171 sets) - 2009-10
9. 21 - Karina MAMBUCA (233 sets) - 2012-13
21 - Roberta SANTOS (180 sets) - 2007-08
Block assists
1. 388 - Daniele SERRANO (423 sets) - 2016-present
2. 280 - Olivia MESNER (428 sets) - 2011-14
3. 230 - Ashley YANCE (296 sets) - 2007-09
4. 180 - Marlene MOELLER (301 sets) - 2013-16
5. 176 - Karina MAMBUCA (233 sets) - 2012-13
6. 167 - Kaitlin HOLM (359 sets) - 2011-13
7. 159 - Snowy BURNAM (291 sets) - 2017-present
159 - Lauren TUTWILER (208 sets) - 2014-15
9. 157 - Amanda CARROLL (432 sets) - 2015-present
10. 153 - Eleonora KAZARIAN (213 sets) - 2014-15
Total blocks
1. 455 - Daniele SERRANO (423 sets) - 2016-present
2. 342 - Olivia MESNER (428 sets) - 2011-14
3. 271 - Ashley YANCE (296 sets) - 2007-09
4. 205 - Kaitlin HOLM (359 sets) - 2011-13
5. 199 - Amanda CARROLL (432 sets) - 2015-present
6. 197 - Marlene MOELLER (301 sets) - 2013-16
197 - Karina MAMBUCA (233 sets) - 2012-13
8. 176 - Sharonda PICKERING (168 sets) - 2017-18
9. 170 - Lauren TUTWILER (208 sets) - 2014-15
170 - Snowy BURNAM (291 sets) - 2017-present
Blocks per set (min. 150 sets)
1. 1.08 - Daniele SERRANO (423 sets) - 2016-present
2. 1.05 - Sharonda PICKERING (168 sets) - 2017-18
3. 0.92 - Ashley YANCE (296 sets) - 2007-09
4. 0.85 - Roberta SANTOS (180 sets) - 2007-08
5. 0.85 - Karina MAMBUCA (233 sets) - 2012-13
6. 0.82 - Lauren TUTWILER (208 sets) - 2014-15
7. 0.80 - Olivia MESNER (428 sets) - 2011-14
8. 0.77 - Eleonora KAZARIAN (213 sets) - 2014-15
9. 0.73 - Audrey CAMPBELL (157 sets) - 2007-08
10. 0.70 - Jacqueline COWDEN (171 sets) - 2009-10
Points
1. 1,707.5 - Amanda CARROLL (1,452k 135a 42-157b) - 2015-present
2. 1,338.0 - Olivia MESNER (1,132k 4a 62-280b) - 2011-14
3. 1,281.5 - Cortney VANLIEW (1,145k 64a 24-97b) - 2017-present
4. 1,087.5 - Kaitlin HOLM (926k 40a 38-167b) - 2011-13
5. 1,059.0 - Daniele SERRANO (796k 2a 67-388b) - 2016-present
6. 1,045.5 - Jessica BARNES (961k 43a 13-57b) - 2010-11,13-14
7. 877.5 - Jill HOPPER (725k 88a 18-93b) - 2011-13
8. 845.5 - Ana KOKANOVIC (678k 139a 9-39b) - 2007-08
9. 821.5 - Eleonora KAZARIAN (693k 40a 12-153b) - 2014-15
10. 741.5 - Snowy BURNAM (619k 32a 11-159b) - 2017-present
Matches played
1. 131 - Maggie RICK - 2015-18
2. 126 - Gigi MEYER - 2011-14
126 - Courtney STEPHENS - 2014-17
126 - Whitney MASTERS - 2011-14
5. 125 - Daniele SERRANO - 2016-present
125 - Amanda CARROLL - 2015-present
7. 123 - Karissa RHOADES - 2015-18
8. 119 - Caroline JORDAN - 2013-16
9. 114 - Olivia MESNER - 2011-14
10. 113 - Holly YOUNGQUIST - 2008-11
ASUN CAREER RECORD BOOK (ALL-TIME)
Kills
1. Megan Devine (ETSU, 2010-13) - 1,940
2. Carlyle Nusbaum (Lipscomb, 2015-18) - 1,715
3. Alex Kelly (Lipscomb, 2007-10) - 1,746
4. Lauren Ford (Lipscomb, 2011-14) - 1,597
5. Paige Pridgeon (North Florida, 2009-12) - 1,593
6. Maggie Johnson (Belmont, 2008-11) - 1,558
7. Lindsay Cleveland (Belmont, 2002-05) - 1,552
8. Jewell Dobson (Lipscomb, 2011-15) - 1,525
9. Amanda Carroll (FGCU, 2015-present) - 1,452
10. Katie Plummer (Mercer, 2001-04) - 1,390
Total Blocks
1. Meredith Hardy (ETSU, 2010-13) - 474.0
2. Daniele Serrano (FGCU, 2016-present) - 455.0
3. Morgan Van Alstine (North Florida, 2013-16) - 435.0
4. Rachel Templin (Campbell, 2003-06) - 422.0
5. Danielle Neville (Jacksonville, 2002-05) - 408.0
Fall Sports Single-Game, Season and Group Tickets On Sale
Single game tickets for volleyball, men's soccer and women's soccer are on sale now. Prices are $7 for adults and $5 for military/veterans (with ID) and youth (age 15 and under).
For all inquiries, you can visit FGCUtickets.com, call 239-590-7145 or stop by the ticket office, which is open daily Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and one hour prior to all home events.
COACH BOTSFORD
Matt Botsford is in his sixth season as head coach of the FGCU women's volleyball program in 2019 after being hired on Feb. 10, 2014. In his tenure, Botsford-led teams have compiled a 139-48 (.743) record overall, including a 69-16 (.812) record in ASUN play. Including this past season, 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 four straight seasons and at least 10 wins in conference play five 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 next two, which saw .267 and .256 percentages, are the third and fourth highest in program history. In 2018, he led the program to its first regular season championship since 2012 (fourth overall) and its first-ever ASUN tournament title, NCAA tournament appearance, NCAA tournament win and victory over a ranked team. His first two campaigns resulted in ASUN regular season runner-up finishes, and the following two saw 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. This past season, he led the team to a win over Miami (Fla.) - the program's first-ever road Power-5 win.
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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 raise awareness.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 79 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 12 plus seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just eight plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 36 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including both men's and women's soccer again in 2018. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2018 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for twenty consecutive semesters. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
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