Top-Seeded FGCU Sweeps Lady Flames in ASUN Quarterfinal

No. 1 East Division seed FGCU kept their perfect home record alive, posting a 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-17) sweep over No. 5 East Division seed Liberty in the ASUN Volleyball Championship quarterfinals, Thursday at Alico Arena.

FGCU (24-5) advances to tomorrow’s semifinal round, where the Eagles will face No. 3 North Division seed North Florida at 7 p.m. Liberty finishes the season with a 10-14 overall record.

Head Coach Trevor Johnson

“It’s a bittersweet ending to our season but there were a lot of positives that we will build off of. I’m so proud of our fight today! Even though it wasn’t the result we wanted, our girls left it all on the court! They can lay their heads down on the pillow tonight knowing they did everything they could to try and win. I’m excited for our seniors to see what God has in store for them next. I’m also excited about the future of Liberty Volleyball! #PURSUE”

Notable Numbers

• FGCU has won each of its last 16 matches at Alico Arena and is looking to qualify for the ASUN final for the sixth straight year.

• The Eagles outhit the Lady Flames, .232-.114 for the match. Both teams posted seven blocks, while FGCU led in both aces (7-3) and digs (37-35).

• Erin Shomaker scored 10 kills for the Eagles, followed by nine kills each from Cortney VanLiew and Skylar English. Chelsey Lockey dished out a match-high 29 assists, while Dana Axner led all players with three aces and 14 digs. Aja Jones posted a match-high four blocks.

• Liberty’s Trinity Watts tied Shomaker for the match lead with 10 kills, while Regina Fitzmaurice, Lilly Kruse and Lydia Burts scored five kills apiece. Amaya Williams dished out 20 assists to go along with eight digs and three blocks. Meanwhile, Lindsey Hardesty collected 11 digs.

Turning Point

• FGCU pulled away from Liberty in set one, racing to a 25-15 victory.

• Set two was the tightest set between these two teams this season, featuring seven ties and four lead changes. Liberty led 12-10 after a Burts kill. However, FGCU scored the next five points to gain a 15-12 advantage. The Lady Flames battled until the end but ran out of time, falling 25-21.

• English hit 5-for-5 for the Eagles during set three, as FGCU completed the sweep with a 25-17 win.

Quick Hits

• FGCU is now 7-1 all-time against Liberty, including 3-0 (all sweeps) this season. The Eagles have won four meetings in a row since the Lady Flames’ 3-0 home sweep over FGCU on Sept. 24, 2019.

• This was the second conference tournament meeting all-time between Liberty and FGCU, as the Eagles swept Liberty in the 2018 ASUN semifinal.

• Liberty is now 2-4 all-time in ASUN Volleyball Championship play, advancing to the semifinals in both 2018 and 2019 and falling in the quarterfinal round each of the last two seasons.

• Watts is the first Liberty player in rally-scoring history to lead the team in kills as both a freshman and a sophomore. Watts earned her team-leading 11th double-digit kill match of the season and 20th for her career.

• Williams ends her career ranked 10th in program history with 2,246 career assists.

• Hardesty posted her team-leading 14th double-digit kill match, wrapping up a strong freshman campaign at libero.

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