FORT MYERS, Fla. - FGCU softball's graduate Tayli Filla (Fort Myers, Fla./Bishop Verot HS/USF) has earned her first ASUN Player of the Week honor, as announced by the conference Monday.

The award marks the first player of the week honors earned by an Eagle this season, and the 30th all-time in FGCU softball history.

The hometown kid has provided the spark offensively all season long for the Eagles, and helped propel FGCU to a 5-1 record over the weekend -- as the Green & Blue swept a 2022 NCAA Tournament team in Chattanooga, and won its opening ASUN Conference series vs. Jacksonville.

Filla also helped FGCU earn the distinction of becoming the first ASUN team this season to record 20 or more wins, and she walked-off Chattanooga to secure the thrilling sweep of the Mocs -- her second walk-off effort of the season.

"Tayli has been consistent all year," said FGCU softball head coach David Deiros. "She has come up with big hits to win games repeatedly. Proud of how she has led our team in all facets."

Filla recorded at least one hit in all six games over the four-day weekend span and tallied three multi hit performances -- finishing with 10 hits in all. Filla went a perfect 3-for-3 in the series finale against Jacksonville.

In her 10 hits, she belted two doubles, one triple, and also snagged two stolen bases. Entering the weekend, FGCU was sixth nationally in total stolen bases. Through Sunday's games, the Eagles are now fourth in the country in stolen bases.

Filla struck out only once in her 17 plate appearances during the weekend. She continues to lead all Eagles in hits (34), batting average (.340), and in slugging percentage (.570) this season. Her 34 hits rank second in the ASUN, 50th nationally, and her 24 RBIs rank third across the league.

For up-to-the-minute information on the FGCU softball program, follow on Twitter @FGCU_Softball, Instagram at fgcusoftball, Facebook, and stay tuned at FGCUAthletics.com.

COACH DEIROS
The founding father of FGCU softball, David Deiros enters his 21st season as head coach in 2023. Hired in 2001 to build the program from the ground up, Deiros has since guided the Eagles to a 726-410-3 (.637) record, gone 178-110 (.618) in the ASUN, had 16 seasons with a winning record and nine campaigns of 35+ wins. Deiros has also led the Eagles to three ASUN regular season championships (2008, 2012, and 2016) and one ASUN Tournament title (2012). In 2012, FGCU defeated No. 5 Florida in its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Last season (2022), FGCU took down both No. 8 Texas and No. 10 Florida once again. Deiros is a former head coach at the 1998 Florida State Runner-Up Lely High School in Naples and is the founding head coach of the 1999 District Champion/2001 Regional Runner-Up Gulf Coast High School in Naples.

E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow.

#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCUCampus Food Pantry (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.

ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 96 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 48 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Nine FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport -- including women's basketball (No. 20 in 2021-22 and No. 22 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 20 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as five of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 - Fall 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.

---FGCUATHLETICS.COM---