FGCU volleyball wins fourth straight ASUN Tournament title

The feeling of winning a championship never gets old for Florida Gulf Coast volleyball. FGCU secured its fourth straight ASUN Tournament Championship Saturday night by beating Lipscomb in three sets.

“We all looked at each other at the end of the game,” outside hitter Shelby Kent said. “We knew what we were going to do today. There’s going to be some magic.”

FGCU libero Claire Ertel said, “There’s nothing like it. I mean you never take it for granted. Every year that’s your goal. I’m just so proud of us.”

“We showed it with the grit we showed the last three days,” outside hitter Skylar English said. “We knew we had a goal in mind and we knew we weren’t going to let anything get in our way.”

The Eagles had a back and forth first set with the Bisons before dominating the second set. In the third and final set, FGCU surged to finish it off and get the party started inside Alico Arena.

“There were points where we played very clean,” FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. “Then there were others were Lipscomb applied pressure. We found ways to battle back.”

“Everybody’s trust in each other,” Kent said. “We said we were going to look to each other when things get down and that’s exactly what we did.”

“That third set feeling knowing we’re going to take this home is unmatched,” English, who was named Tournament MVP, answered. “Just gives you more of a boost of energy to finish that game and take it home.”

Botsford said the legacy of this senior class is, “they’re winners. And that’s the message I told them a lot this week is you know groups have characteristics and this group’s ability to win is their finest characteristic as student athletes. They know how to compete and win.”

“We’re setting a new standard for FGCU volleyball for those to come and we’re hoping to keep setting the standard higher and higher,” English explained.

Now, FGCU is heading back to the NCAA Tournament.

“We’re hoping fourth year we can do some damage,” English said. “Show them what team we are and that smaller underrated schools can make an impact on the tournament as well.”

The Eagles will find out where they are going and who they will be playing in the NCAA Tournament on Dec. 1.