FORT MYERS, Fla. – With two Atlantic Sun Conference games remaining before the A-Sun Championship, the FGCU volleyball team will take a breather from league play to welcome in-state foe Florida International Wednesday night in its last nonconference game of the year. The Eagles will host the Panthers in a 7 p.m. match at Alico Arena.
 
The bout will be the team's final contest at Alico Arena before the Atlantic Sun Conference championship tournament.
 
THE GREEN AND BLUE
After earning a pair of 3-0 wins over Kennesaw State and USC Upstate at Alico Arena last weekend, FGCU currently stands at 17-9 on the season with a 10-2 A-Sun record to sit right behind first-place Lipscomb in the conference and lead third-place by three games. With two league games left, the Eagles have already earned at least the second seed in the upcoming A-Sun Championship no matter the outcome from the league's last weekend. The Green and Blue could potentially earn the A-Sun Regular Season title and the first seed in the tournament by winning the two remaining conference matches if Lipscomb drops its two final A-Sun matchups.
 
As a unit, the Eagles have maintained an attack percentage of .209 on the season, while allowing opponents to hit .193. The team has outperformed its opposition in kills, assists and digs per set but has fallen behind in the blocks and service errors per set categories.
 
Junior Eleonora Kazarian (Tibilisi, Georgia/College of Central Florida) leads the team's offensive effort with 3.28 kills per stanza as the Eagles average 13.47 kills per set. The senior duo of Olivia Mesner (Boca Raton, Fla./Spanish River High School) and Jessica Barnes (Winter Haven, Fla./Haines City High School) contributes heavily to the team's total with 3.25 and 3.15 kills per set, respectively. Mesner leads the team's accuracy with a league-leading attack percentage of .366 and has also lead the team's blocking effort, recording 73 of the team's total 169.5 blocks on the year.
 
Senior libero Whitney Masters (Muncie, Ind./Wapahani High School) paces the team with 434 digs on the season, while Kazarian has added 229. Senior Gigi Meyer (Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz High School) has sparked the team's offense with 1,199 assists. Meyer became the all-time assist leader in FGCU program history earlier in the season and set the program's single-match record in Division I competition with 68 against UNF on Oct. 3. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Eagles swept two matches last weekend to wrap up home conference play. The team took 3-0 wins from Kennesaw State and USC Upstate Friday and Saturday to move to 10-2 in conference play and secure a first-round bye in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship.
 
SCOUTING FIU
The Panthers will bring their record of 6-22 to Alico Arena for their last nonconference match of the year. FIU is 3-12 in Conference USA play under second-year head coach Rita Buck-Crockett. The Panthers and Eagles have each faced FAU with both teams falling 3-1 against the instate foe.
 
Collectively, FIU has maintained an attack percentage of .156 on the season, while allowing foes to hit .211. The team has produced 11.3 kills with 10.4 assists and 15.1 digs per set, while submitting 235 total blocks.
 
Junior Lucia Castro has led the Panthers' offense with 3.17 kills per set, with help from Gloria Levorin's 2.10 attacks. Kiona McSwain facilitates the offense with 8.35 assists per stanza.
 
Defensively, junior Adriana McLamb leads the team with 3.32 digs per set, while Castro adds 2.95 more per set. Levorin leads the team's blocking effort with 97 total blocks on the season.
 
Wednesday will mark the ninth meeting between the Sunshine State teams since the 2007 season. The Panthers own a 5-3 all-time record against the Eagles, but the Green and Blue has won the last three matchups, dropping only four stanzas in the process.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
Fans can view Wednesday's match live and free of charge on ASun.TV, while live stats for will be available via StatBroadcast.
 
UP NEXT
After Wednesday's contest, the Eagles will wrap up Atlantic Sun play on the road against North Florida Friday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. and will face Jacksonville at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15 with both contests in Jacksonville, Fla. The Green and Blue will then gear up for the Atlantic Sun Volleyball Championship, Nov. 20-22 at Alico Arena.
 
RPI
FGCU has moved up 40 positions in the RPI in recent weeks and currently stands at a season-high 64.  The Eagles hold the second-highest RPI rating in the Atlantic Sun Conference, behind only Lipscomb. Here is a breakdown of the Green and Blue's opponents and their positions in the latest RPI.
 
Ohio State 25
Lipscomb 33
Miami 34
Seton Hall 63
FGCU 64
UT Arlington 74
UMKC 97
Auburn 110
Southern Illinois 118
Northern Kentucky 122
FAU 130
Stetson 171
Jacksonville 176
North Florida 194
Florida A&M 197
Houston Baptist 205
Kennesaw State 250
FIU 251
Texas Southern 260
USC Upstate 261
Alabama State 277
Bethune Cookman 306
 
For up-to-the minute information and a behind-the-scenes look at the FGCU volleyball program, follow on Twitter at @FGCU_VB, on Facebook at /FGCUVolleyball and on Instagram at @FGCU_VB.
 
Head coach Matt Botsford is in his first year at the helm of the FGCU volleyball program. Prior to his time in Southwest Florida, Botsford held successful stints as an assistant at Notre Dame, Miami, IUIPI, Indianapolis and most recently Colorado State. Botsford is a former professional volleyball player and is a 1998 graduate of Tri-State University, where he earned a degree in Social Studies Education.  He earned a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Indianapolis.