Catching up with the Eagles: Oct. 1-Oct. 8 FGCU cross country, soccer, volleyball results

nick wilson, naples daily news

Tue, Oct 11, 2022, 7:52 AM·6 min read

Teach us your ways Ashley Labbe!!#WingsUp 🤙🦅⚽ pic.twitter.com/TvBzx5M5vb
— FGCU Women's Soccer (@FGCU_WSoccer) October 9, 2022

Here is a roundup of how FGCU athletic teams fared in contests played from Monday, Oct. 2 to Sunday, Oct. 9, including weekly awards won by Eagles athletes and a schedule for games being played this week.

Volleyball goes 2-0, Shomaker breaks record

Hurricane Ian postponed Sunday's game against Stetson as well as forced the Eagles to relocate to St. Petersburg for Friday's matchup against Lipscomb. FGCU defeated its in-conference opponent 3-1, behind Erin Shomaker's 29 kills. Shomaker's efforts marked a career-high and a new school record for most kills in a four-set match. She hit .400 on 55 attacks in the win.

"I've seen a lot of brilliant performances from Erin, but what she did tonight was unbelievable," head coach Matt Botsford said. "To hit that efficiency and at that volume, she was really in a great rhythm."

FGCU's Erin Shomaker set a career-high and a new school record for most kills in a four-set match with 29 against Lipscomb.

After dropping the first set the Eagles rallied to win three straight, including a 9-1 run in the second set that helped set the tone for the rest of the contest.

Setter Chelsey Lockey tallied 44 assists in the win, marking her seventh 40-plus assist game of the season. Lily Felts tacked on 9 kills, 12 digs, and 2 solo blocks, while teammate Dana Axner notched 21 digs.

The Eagles defeated Austin Peay in straight sets on Saturday 3-0, marking their third straight ASUN win. FGCU improves to 13-4 overall, and 3-1 in league play. Shomaker tallied 18 kills, moving her up to fourth in all-time kills with 1,136, passing Olivia Mesner (2011-14, 1,132 kills).

More: Hurricane Ian: FGCU updates athletics schedules due to storm

More: Pat Chambers era at FGCU begins with first practice for men's basketball team

"Nice to finish the weekend with a sweep, and I like that our players had to push through some adversity to make it happen," coach Botsford said. "We struggled in that first set from the service line, and as we entered sets two and three, I thought serving was what bailed us out of a couple jams. Lily's performance was really significant because of how many areas of the game she was positively affecting. From attacking, passing, defense, and serving, she provided a very steady presence tonight. Emma had a great weekend and continues to develop as a nice weapon for Chelsey. Claire also did an outstanding job in her rotations generating points for the team."

Lockey posted her eighth double-double of the season with 38 assists and 10 digs. Felts notched 13 kills, tying her season-high best.

Men's soccer picks up loss, tie

The Eagles dropped Sunday's matchup with Bellarmine 1-0, despite tallying 10 shots on goal to Bellarmine's 6. Brendan Schoemehl broke the tie in the 70th minute off of an assist from Jackson Kirn.

On Friday, the Eagles traveled to USF to host North Florida where they earned a 0-0 draw and moved on to 4-2-3, 1-1-2 in ASUN. Sophomore goalkeeper Wyatt Kistner allowed no goals, making three saves in the contest.

"First of all, we want to thank USF for being an amazing host for us. The result was disappointing, as we had fifteen shots, to their three, and had some chances to score to get all the points" said head coach Jesse Cormier. "From the stats, I felt we were territorially dominant but need more efficiency with our final action. We had some excellent contributions from players coming into the game tonight. When teams sit back, and have little interest in coming out to play us, we have to be significantly better with our final action and be decisive to score goals. We will get back to work and prepare for UCA next week."

Can't do it much better than that!@leahnardo10 | #WingsUp 🤙🦅⚽ pic.twitter.com/nfXoeEyn7J
— FGCU Women's Soccer (@FGCU_WSoccer) October 9, 2022

Women's soccer wins twice

The FGCU women's soccer team made it four straight wins on Sunday, defeating Bellarmine, 3-0. The Eagles improve to 7-5-0 and 5-1-0 in the ASUN while the Knights fall to 1-5-8 and 1-2-4 in league play.

"A great result for us today," said head coach Jim Blankenship. "Winning on the road is never easy, especially with what is still going on back home, but coming away with six points this week was huge. Our defense has really played well lately and Labbe had two high-quality goals today to continue her phenomenal season."

Sophomore Ashley Labbe found the back of the net twice to give her six goals on the season, tying her for the team lead with junior Louise Lillback. Junior Leah Scarpelli also got her second goal of the season on a penalty kick while freshman Erika Zschuppe collected an assist, her third of the season.

Graduate student Katie Sullivan made two saves to register her third shutout against an ASUN opponent this year and fourth overall.

The Eagles defeated Eastern Kentucky with a convincing 5-1 win on Thursday afternoon.

Four different Eagles scored with Lillback scoring twice. Sophomore Katelyn Kauffman, freshman Marla Gaudlitz and Labbe also found the back of the net. Sullivan tallied eight saves, tying a season-high.

Men's tennis' Magnus Johnson goes 1-1 in ITA Championship Qualifiers

Naples Native Magnus Johnson dropped Monday's matchup against the University of Pennsylvania's Harsh Parikh 3-6, 6-7 (1) in the qualifying round.

Johnson rebounded on Tuesday, defeating Ezequiel Santalla of Tulsa in the qualifying consolation round. Johnson won the first set tiebreak 7-5 before completing the sweep 6-3.

"Magnus showed what he is capable of today," said head coach CJ Weber. "Despite a tough loss yesterday, I knew he would come right back and play hard today. He showed a lot of toughness in the first set and then put the match away in the second. It is not easy to get a win here with some of the best players in the country so walking away with a victory is something he can hold his head up high about."

Women's Golf places second at Jupiter Invitational

The Eagles shot 858 as a team, behind Anna Claire Bridge's 211. She shot a match-best 68 in the third round to help secure the silver for FGCU. Lousiane Gauthier (215), Leonie Wulfers (221), Grace Rigby-Walden (221), and Posie Farelly (225) rounded out the Eagle's scorecard.

Men's cross country places tenth at FSU Invitational, women place 13th

Senior Osman Humeida (24:23.8) placed first as an individual in the 8K FSU Invitational, helping the Eagles to a 10th-place finish with 271 points. No other Eagle placed inside the top 40.

FGCU's women cross county placed 13th at the 5K FSU Invitational. They notched 342 points. Sophomore Karley Piers had the best finish for FGCU, earning 26th with a 18:18.8.