LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (8-11, 5-4 ASUN) fell 3-2 at Bellarmine (11-9, 5-4 ASUN) on Saturday at Knights Hall, dropping the match 26-24, 25-23, 24-26, 23-25, 10-15 to close a four-match ASUN road stretch. Freshman Maju Hildebrand set a career high in kills for the second straight night with 18, and Katie Gielas added a season-high 17.
 
FGCU out-dug Bellarmine 58-50 and out-blocked the Knights 10-8. Hildebrand hit .389 with 18 kills, five total blocks and a career-high 20.5 points, topping the 17 kills and 19 points she posted Friday at Lipscomb. Gielas totaled a season-high 20 points behind her 17 kills, two aces and two total blocks. Abby Toeniskoetter hit .391 with 10 kills and just one error, adding a team-high six total blocks, including a solo block, and an ace for 14.5 points. Dinara Sabitova recorded her second straight double-double with 34 assists and 12 digs, adding two aces, and Eliska Vytiskova added 18 assists and an ace. Anna Marzella led the back row with a match-high 21 digs, and Julija Grubisic Cabo added 15 digs, eight kills and an ace. Amany Kuwa went 4-for-4 on the attack with four total blocks.
 
Florida Gulf Coast jumped out fast in the opener. Toeniskoetter put down back-to-back kills to start the match, and after a Hildebrand kill made it 3-1, Toeniskoetter went to the line for three straight points as a Bellarmine attack error, a Gielas kill and a Hildebrand-Kuwa block pushed the lead to 6-1. The Knights rallied to tie it at 9 and later pulled ahead 18-21, but Toeniskoetter sided out with a kill off a Vytiskova set, and Sabitova followed with a service ace and a Bellarmine attack error to tie it at 21. Down 21-23, the Eagles took five of the final six points. With Grubisic Cabo serving, a Bellarmine attack error tied it at 23 and Gielas put FGCU in front with a kill, and after the Knights tied it at 24, Gielas answered with another kill for set point. A Bellarmine attack error with Devynn Schulze at the line sealed the 26-24 set. Gielas had five kills in the frame, and Toeniskoetter added four.
 
After falling behind 2-5 in the second set, Toeniskoetter served an ace and Kuwa and Gielas teamed up on a block to tie it at 5. Trailing 10-13, FGCU ripped off five straight points. Toeniskoetter and Hildebrand combined on a block to side out, and Grubisic Cabo served the next four, as Toeniskoetter put down a kill, teamed with Hildebrand on another block, Grubisic Cabo served an ace and Toeniskoetter stuffed a solo block for a 15-13 lead. Hildebrand added back-to-back kills to make it 17-14, and with Vytiskova at the line, Gielas and Camila Soto put down kills for a 20-16 cushion. Bellarmine battled back to tie it at 22, but a Knights attack error put the Eagles back in front, and Hildebrand and Toeniskoetter combined on a block for set point at 24-22. Hildebrand closed out the 25-23 set with a kill off a Sabitova set. Toeniskoetter had four blocks in the set.
 
The third set featured 11 ties. FGCU opened with a Toeniskoetter-Grubisic Cabo block and built an 8-4 lead behind two Gielas kills, a Kuwa-Gielas block and a Grubisic Cabo kill. After Bellarmine tied it at 13, Gielas put down a kill and served an ace for a 15-13 edge, and kills from Grubisic Cabo, Toeniskoetter and Hildebrand made it 18-16. Kuwa and Soto teamed up on a block for a 23-22 lead, and Kuwa earned set point with a kill at 24-23, but the Knights scored the final three points to take the set 24-26.
 
Hildebrand accounted for each of FGCU's first five points of the fourth set with kills, including back-to-back swings with Schulze serving for a 4-3 lead. Down 11-14, Hildebrand sided out with a kill and Gielas put down back-to-back kills to tie it at 14, and a Vytiskova ace tied it again at 16. Kills from Grubisic Cabo and Kuwa tied it at 18 and 19, and a Bellarmine attack error with Sabitova serving put FGCU ahead 21-20, but the Knights scored five of the final seven points to take the set 23-25 and force a fifth.
 
FGCU took three of the first four points of the deciding set behind a Toeniskoetter kill, a Hildebrand-Toeniskoetter block and a Hildebrand kill, but Bellarmine answered with a five-point run and closed out the set 10-15.
 
FGCU returns home to host North Florida at Alico Arena on Friday, Oct. 30, at 6 p.m.
 
HIGHLIGHTS:

• Maju Hildebrand set a career high in kills for the second straight night with 18 on .389 hitting, adding five total blocks and a career-high 20.5 points
• Katie Gielas posted a season-high 17 kills and season-high 20 points, adding two aces, including five kills in the first set
• Abby Toeniskoetter hit .391 with 10 kills and a team-high six total blocks, four of them in the second set
• Dinara Sabitova recorded her second straight double-double with 34 assists and 12 digs
• Anna Marzella led all players with 21 digs

 
2026 ASUN VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TICKETS
Tickets are on sale for the 2026 ASUN Volleyball Championship, set for Nov. 19-22 at Alico Arena. FGCU is hosting the league tournament for the fourth straight year and the 10th time overall, with the top six ASUN teams playing in Fort Myers for the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Single-session tickets start at $14, and all-tournament passes start at $30.
 
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