FORT MYERS, Fla. - Two members of the Florida Gulf Coast University volleyball team earned First Team honors from the Atlantic Sun Conference for their play in the regular season. In the quarterfinal round of the ASUN Championship, both stepped up to have big matches as
Juliana Lentz hit .909 and
Lily Tessier had a double-double to help FGCU sweep Bellarmine University 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-17) Thursday night in Alico Arena.
"I thought our last match against Jacksonville, we took a step back that we kind of hang our hats on here as a program in the ability to block and disrupt attackers," said FGCU head coach
Matt Botsford. "We worked on it quite a bit over the last few days and again, in the first set, you could start seeing it come together. So I was most pleased with that aspect tonight. The blocking elevated and everything kind of came with it."
Lentz had 10 kills on 11 swings for an impressive .909 attack percentage. She also added a team-high five blocks as the Eagles out-blocked Bellarmine 10-4 for the contest. "My favorite thing tonight was aggressiveness," said Lentz. "Even if we weren't where we wanted to be in a certain area, somebody was being aggressive at the end of it. Whether we had gotten a tip or they blocked us, we were aggressive on that cover. I think that was what really solidified us today was the aggressiveness."
The Eagles hit .330 as a team, with Tessier earning 27 assists and setting at a .429 percentage. She also led all players in the match with 10 digs in the win. "I think our hitters took some really big swings," Tessier said. "That brought a lot of fire to the rest of us and just really gave us that energy."
The second set was the most competitive of the night with 11 ties and three lead changes. With the score tied 18-all, the Eagles (24-6) went on a 7-0 run to put the set away. A Tessier ace and a Lentz kill helped spark the rally that also saw two kills from
Skylar English and a Lentz kill.
ASUN Freshman of the Year
Ella Chapman had four kills and four blocks.
Skylar English hit .450 with nine kills on 20 swings while Second Team All-ASUN honoree
Alexandra Zakutney added eight kills and six digs.
Bellarmine finishes the season 9-20.
The Eagles will face off with Kennesaw State in the second semifinal of the ASUN Championship Friday night at 7 p.m. FGCU has reached the semifinal round of the tournament every season since 2011.
