FORT MYERS, Fla. - Freshman Jill Hopper (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown HS) and redshirt senior Jelena Simic (Lazarevac, Serbia/Kolubara Technical/Seward County CC) finished with nine kills each as the FGCU volleyball squad swept USF 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-19) Wednesday night at Alico Arena. The Green and Blue now lead the all-time series 3-1.

Hopper added three digs, two blocks and a service ace to go with her nine kills, while Simic picked up eight digs in addition to her nine kills. Kaitlin Holm (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS/Marshall) blasted eight kills and tallied three digs and a block. Sophomore Jessica Barnes (Winter Haven, Fla./Haines City HS) finished with eight kills, three service aces and a pair of digs. Freshman setter Gigi Meyer (Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz HS) finished with 34 assists. Senior libero Holly Youngquist (Estero, Fla./Evangelical Christian HS) chipped in with 14 digs and a service ace.

J’beria Davis recorded seven kills to lead USF. Shelbie Dailey added 21 assists for the Bulls.

In the opening set, the two teams battled to a 16-16 tie, before a pair of attack errors by the Bulls gave the Green and Blue an 18-16 lead. Holm blasted a kill to give FGCU a 19-16 advantage, but USF responded with a 2-0 run (19-18) and forced FGCU to call a timeout. Leading 22-19, the Eagles were able to hold off the Bulls to win the set 25-22.

In the second set, after six ties, FGCU got a kill from Simic and a attack error from USF to pull ahead 8-6. After a service error from USF’s Casey Albano gave the Eagles a 15-14 lead, the Green and Blue got back-to-back kills from Holm and an attack error from the Bulls to grab an 18-14 advantage. A kill from Hopper gave the Eagles a 24-20 lead, but the Bulls would not back down, cutting the FGCU advantage to one point (24-23). Holm sealed the deal for the Eagles with a kill that gave FGCU the 25-23 win in the second set and a 2-0 lead in the match.

FGCU got off to a great start in game three, as they grabbed an early 6-2 lead thanks to a pair of service aces from Barnes and two kills from Simic. The Bulls fought their way back into the match and grabbed an 18-17 advantage. Trailing USF for the first time in the set, FGCU employed an 8-1 spurt to win the set 25-19 and pick up their sixth non-conference victory of the season.

The Eagles will be back in action this weekend (Oct. 14-15) when they host A-Sun foes USC Upstate and ETSU. FGCU faces the Spartans on Friday, Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. and the Lady Bucs on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. Live stats for the match will be available on www.FGCUAthletics.com and the match can be seen live online on A-Sun.TV.