FORT MYERS, Fla. - In a classic match-up between two undefeated Atlantic Sun Conference foes, Florida Gulf Coast University rallied to defeat Lipscomb University 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 26-28, 15-5) to take control of the top spot in the league standings.
"It's still early, and we recognize that. But any chance you have to play a team like that, especially on your home court, you want to do everything you can to take advantage of it," said FGCU head coach
Matt Botsford.
After dropping the first set, the Eagles (15-5, 8-0 ASUN) rallied back to pull out the second set. "I think we knew how aggressive, especially their outlet hitters, were going to be," Botsford said. "I thought we were a bit passive and we had to push through that and get a little bit of energy and be okay taking some chances that weren't always going to go our way.
The Eagles took the third set and had a crack at match point in set four at 26-25, but Lipscomb (12-6, 7-1 ASUN) scored three points in a row to set up a deciding fifth set. The tiebreaker was even at 3-all when the Eagles went on a 7-0 run sparked by freshman
Ella Chapman. The Greensburg, Indiana native was a factor in five of the seven points in the set thanks to four total blocks and a kill.
"I thought, just in general, after she came back from the bench she was a big spark plug for us," Botsford said. "We needed to find some offense behind the setter, and she started doing that and that changed the complexity of what was happening out there."
The Bisons would pull within six at 11-5, but the Eagles would close out the match on a 4-0 run.
Alexandra Zakutney led the FGCU attack with 21 kills but ber ninth and final dig of the night during the rally to set up match point gave her 1,000 for her career, one weekend after eclipsing 1,500 career kills.
The Eagles through a literal block party as the match went on, finishing with 16.0 as a team,
Juliana Lentz and
Skylar English each had eight total blocks. Along the back line,
Reese Burry had 24 digs while
Lily Tessier completed a double-double with 13 digs to go with 47 assists.
FGCU will step out of ASUN play for the final time in the regular season this Tuesday when it plays host to Florida International University. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
