By Harold Solomon IV
Sports Editor
FGCU volleyball improved to 13-3 on the season as they defeated North Florida in a 3-0 victory (25-11, 25-18, 25-22) on Friday night. The Eagles were lead by Cortney VanLiew as she tallied 18 kills, the most for both teams while posting a .485 hitting percentage in the matchup.
Danielle Serrano posted a kill and two blocks in the early going of the matchup as FGCU was able to get ahead of UNF 7-1. The Eagles would continue to tack on points as Tori Morris and Snowy Burnam each recorded a block which led to VanLiew capping the set off with a kill to take the first set for FGCU.
UNF came back from an early deficit in the second set as they took their first lead of the matchup 6-5 but the Eagles would respond as Chelsey Lockey and VanLiew each scored a point and gave the Green and Blue a 14-9 lead later in the match. The Ospreys were able to keep it close as the score was 16-15 but FGCU would go on a 6-1 run capped with a Serrano kill as the Eagles went up 2-0 in the match.
The third set began with an FGCU advantage as VanLiew and Burnam scored back-to-back kills to take a 4-2 lead but the Ospreys would come back and take an 11-9 lead midway through. Erin Shomaker’s kill capped off another six-point run by the Eagles and gave them the lead in an already back-and-forth set.
The set was tied at 20 apiece following a kill from UNF but Shomaker tacked on a kill and a replay from the officials confirmed a bad set from UNF and stripped them of a point. The Ospreys continued to fight back but the Eagles kept them at bay as Snowy Burnam ended a 40-minute set with a kill and finished the sweep for the Eagles.
The matchup added to VanLiew’s 14 match run of double-digit kills and 15 of 16 overall this season. Shomaker and Serrano combined for 15 kills in the matchup and Axner recorded a match-high 13 kills and is now two shy of 900 career digs.
Serrano, quietly, tied the FGCU solo block record as she reached 415 solo blocks in her outing against UNF and nears third place in the ASUN record books.
FGCU looks to continue their win streak as they face Stetson on Sunday at 6 p.m.