Thursday, November 17, 2011

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – FGCU earned the first victory of the 2011 Atlantic Sun Volleyball Championship with a 3-1 win against the North Florida Ospreys. The third-seed Eagles were led by A-Sun Freshman of the Year, Jill Hopper, with a match-high 13 kills and sophomore Kaitlin Holm with 12 kills and a match-high .500 attack percentage.

Carolyn Jenkins’12 kills were best for UNF (14-17; 5-8), while FGCU (18-12; 10-3) had four players finish with at least eight kills as with Jessica Barnes (8) and Jelena Simic (8) joined Hopper and Holm.

FGCU claimed the first set, 25-22, to jump out to the early lead. Holm led the Eagles in kills in the opening set with six, while Hopper added eight digs. In set two, North Florida struck back with a 25-19 set win. The Ospreys’ attack percentage of .412 in set two coupled with 18 team kills evened the match.

The Green and Blue dominated in set three, 25-11, led by a team attack percentage of .367 and 13 kills. In the final set, FGCU used 14 kills to close out the match with a 27-25 set win.

The Eagles Holly Youngquist finished with 22 digs to move the senior libero into fourth place in A-Sun history for career digs with 1,652. She passed Mercer’s duo of Katie Plummer (2001-04) and Claire Tucker (2005-08) for sole possession in the conference record books.

FGCU advances to the A-Sun Championship Semifinals for the second time in the past three tournaments and will face second-seeded and host school, Lipscomb on Friday at 5 p.m. CT.

All games of the 2011 Atlantic Sun Volleyball Championship are broadcasted for free on ASun.TV.

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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an NCAA Division I league with 10 member institutions committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun meets the challenge of maintaining the highest standards in academic and athletic achievement with a true balance between student and athlete. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.