Volleyball Secures Season Series over FGCU Since 2016 with Five-Set Thriller

Friday, October 23

Nashville, Tenn.

6 pm

Lipscomb University

13-5,6-2ASUN

Florida Gulf Coast

8-10,5-3ASUN

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
FGCU	25	20	27	23	13	2
Lipscomb	21	25	25	25	15	3

Box Score (PDF)

10/23/2026 9:52:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

NASHVILLE – If you look in the dictionary for "barn burner", you will see Friday's match between Lipscomb University and Florida Gulf Coast University. Between 30 ties, 13 in the fourth set alone, and 12 lead changes, the Bisons (13-5, 6-2) prevailed to take down the preseason favorites not once, but twice in 2026, defeating the Eagles (8-10, 5-3) in five sets (21-25, 25-20, 25-27, 25-23, 15-13), inside Allen Arena to open the second half of league play.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After Madyson McCarthy and Ella Durham helped the Bisons answer FGCU's early points and tie the opening set at 3-3, FGCU used kills from Maju Hildebrand and Katie Gielas along with a service ace to move in front 10-4.

The Bisons drew back to 14-9 on an Anna Claire Brown-Sydney Strenger block and a Grace Jones ace, but Florida Gulf Coast kept building, getting multiple kills from Gielas and a service ace from Abby Toeniskoetter to reach 21-12 and later 24-14.

Facing set point, the Bisons won seven straight points, beginning with Brown's kill and continuing through Jones' serve with her ace and blocks involving Brown and Strenger, before Camila Soto's kill gave FGCU the set, 25-21.

Kills by Durham and Brooklyn Fuchs, along with Kelsey Schenck's ace, helped the Bisons move in front 4-2 in the second set, but FGCU answered with three straight points to take a 5-4 lead. After Brown tied the set at 5-5 and the teams traded points to 6-6, the Bisons scored the next three during Madyson McCarthy's serve, including a Strenger block, to go ahead 9-6.

The Eagles trimmed the margin to 9-8 and later 17-15, but the Bisons answered the latter push with two Strenger kills, a Strenger-Durham block and an FGCU attack error to move ahead 21-15. The Bisons reached set point at 24-17 on an Eagle attack error, and after they scored the next three points, Fuchs finished the set with a kill for a 25-20 win for the home squad.

FGCU scored the first three points of the third frame, but LUV worked back to 4-4 and later moved ahead 8-7 on three straight kills by Brown.

Florida Gulf Coast pushed back from there, taking an 11-8 lead and later stretching the margin to 15-9 on a Julija Grubisic Cabo kill. The Bisons were still down 21-16 before Brown's kill, a Strenger-Lexi Guinn block and a FGCU attack error trimmed it to 21-19, and a Guinn kill plus two more FGCU errors tied the set at 22-22.

The Eagles reached set point at 24-22, but Strenger's kill and another FGCU attack error tied it again; after Ella Durham's kill made it 25-25, Unfortunately, the Eagles responded quickly to take the final two points to win the third set, 27-25.

In the fourth, the Eagles built a 5-2 lead, but the Bisons answered with four straight points, including a Guinn ace and a Durham kill from Kelsey Schenck, for a 6-5 lead; after FGCU tied it, Strenger put LUV back in front at 7-6.

The Eagles later moved ahead 15-12 on Dinara Sabitova's kill before kills by Strenger and Durham helped the Bisons score four straight points for a 16-15 lead. After a LUV service error made it 16-16, Schenck's kill and consecutive FGCU attack errors gave the Bisons a 19-16 lead, but FGCU came back to tie the set at 20-20 on an Abby Toeniskoetter block.

The teams traded points to 22-22 before Anna Claire Brown's kill and another FGCU attack error gave the Bisons set point at 24-22, and after a Katie Gielas kill made it 24-23, Strenger closed the set with a kill from Schenck for a 25-23 win to force the deciding set.

The Bisons built a 4-1 lead in the fifth with kills from Guinn, Strenger and Schenck, plus a block by Durham and Strenger. Florida Gulf Coast answered with five straight points to move ahead 6-4, and the set stayed tight as Lipscomb pulled even at 7-7 on Brooklyn Fuchs' block and again at 8-8 on a Fuchs kill.

After the Eagles reclaimed the lead, 11-9, the Bisons scored three straight to go in front 12-11 before FGCU moved back ahead 13-12. Ella Durham's kill tied it at 13-13, and the Bisons finished the set 15-13 on consecutive attack errors by Julija Grubisic Cabo, the last coming on a block by Durham and Fuchs.

HERD NOTES
The Bisons totaled 90 digs on the night, marking the first time since 2019 the team has eclipsed that number in a match and the fourth time in program history.

Lipscomb pulled even in the season series at 19-19, and improved to 6-3 in five-set matches.

KEY STATISTICS
Sydney Strenger put together the first 20-point effort of her career thanks to 15 kills and a career-high eight total blocks. Two of her eight stops at the net were solo efforts, as the Bisons posted a season-high 12 blocks.

Ella Durham also totaled 20 points on the night with 17 kills and five total blocks, while Anna Claire Brown had 15 digs.

Grace Jones paced the defense with 23 digs and a perfect 13-for-13 on receptions, while Madyson McCarthy set a career-high in digs with 16.

Makenna Kirlin also had a career-high in the dig category with 18, while Kelsey Schenck posted 52 assists and 15 digs to record her 13th double-double of the season.

UP NEXT
The Bisons wrap up the weekend versus the Hatters of Stetson University. First serve is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.