FORT MYERS, Fla. – FGCU volleyball continues tournament play this weekend at the Hofstra/Asics Invitational. Beginning Friday, Sept. 11, the Eagles (4-2) face Hartford, Princeton and Hofstra with just two weeks before the start of conference play. FGCU and the Hawks of Hartford (0-7) will meet at 3 p.m. Friday in Hempstead, N.Y. On Saturday, Sept. 12, the Green and Blue play consecutive matches beginning at 10 a.m. against Princeton (1-2) and Hofstra (5-4), respectively.

Live stats will be made available through HostraStats.com and a live video stream of FGCU's match against Hofstra can be accessed here.

THE GREEN AND BLUE

Led by Leigh Pudwill (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial High School/Northern Iowa), the Eagles finished the USF Classic 1-2, defeating the host Bulls 3-0 last weekend. FGCU began the weekend falling to SEC-foe Missouri. The Eagles then took the first set against Arkansas State in the finale of the USF Classic, but the Red Wolves, who finished 2014 with a Top 65 RPI, won the next three sets to take the match 3-1.

Pudwill paced the Eagles with 35 kills to earn All-Tournament Team honors while Amanda Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia High School) continued her stellar freshman season, tacking on 34 more kills to bring her season total to a team-high 72. Pudwill along with Marlene Moeller (Lüdinghausen, Germany/Pascal Gymnasium) combined to record 18 blocks. Freshman Maggie Rick (Alpharetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity Catholic High School) surpassed 100 assists during the three matches, bringing her season total to 193 assists.

HARTFORD

The Hawks are in search of their first win in 2015, entering the weekend 0-7. Hartford forced a fifth set against Sacred Heart, but fell 15-11 in the final stanza at the Sacred Heart Tournament last weekend. Paulina Modestow leads the Hawks with 68 kills. The freshman is coming off of a 16 kill and 10 dig performance against Bucknell. Astrid Manqual has tallied 157 assists through 24 sets.
Defensively, Kathryn Gawrych is the biggest threat, leading the team with 20 blocks.  While Paola Llerandi leads the team with 76 digs, there are four total Hawks with 40 or more digs including Modestow, Erinn Lavelle and Manqual.

As a team, Hartford enters the weekend with a .084 attacking percentage while opponents have recorded .271 attack percentage.

Friday will be the first meeting between the Hawks and Eagles.

PRINCETON

The Tigers picked up their first win of the year against Radford on Sept. 4 and enter the weekend 1-2. Princeton's five-set win came between losses to George Washington (3-1) and UC-Davis (3-0). After their
opening weekend, the Tigers are led offensively by Cara Mattaliano as well as Lauren Miller. Mattaliano was one of four Tigers to record 20 or more kills during the first 12 sets of 2015. A junior, Mattaliano leads the team with 32 kills, three aces and is third on the team with 29 digs. Kendall Peterkin is second on the team with 29 kills, while Brittany Ptak and Kelly Matthews all have 20 or more kills to their name. Miller compiled 61 assists to open the 2015 season. The junior split time as the setter with Claire Nussbaum, who added 56 assists.

On the defensive side, Nnenna Ibe and Ptak combined for 17 blocks. Meanwhile, six Tigers collected 20 or more digs. Along with Sarah Daschbach's team-leading 34 digs, Maddie Huber adds 32 digs for Princeton.

The Tigers accumulated a .188 attacking percentage and added nine aces in their first weekend of action. Opponents have a hitting percentage of .248 against the Tigers through the first three marches of the season.

FGCU and Princeton will meet for the first time on Saturday.

HOFSTRA

The host Pride are coming off of a midweek win over Stony Brook on Tuesday, Sept. 8, halting a three game losing streak. Both Veronika Kostova and Leticia Valente have surpassed the 100 kill mark in
2015. Kostova leads the team with 145 kills and Valente adds 100 for the Pride. Hannah Klemm enters the weekend with 393 assists through 35 sets, collecting 11.23 assists per set.

Michela Rucli reached 50 blocks in 2015 following the match against Stony Brook. Luisa Domingues and Corrina Delgadillo both have surpassed 100 digs on the year.

Hofstra's wins have come over Duquesne, Kent State, Morgan State, Siena and Stony Brook. However, the Pride have also faced Maryland, Temple, Seton Hall and Notre Dame.  Notably, the Pride took Notre Dame and Seton Hall to five sets and forced Maryland to extra points in the third set of a 3-0 loss to the Terrapins.

Hofstra is limiting its opponents to a .169 attack percentage while attacking at a .227 percentage as a team.

Saturday marks the first ever meeting between the two programs.

UP NEXT

The Green and Blue have a midweek contest at Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday, Sept. 15. The match in Daytona Beach, Fla. is set to begin at 7 p.m.  Following the match against the Wildcats, the Eagles return home to play host to FAU and Ohio. FGCU plays FAU on Sept. 17 and Ohio on Sept. 18 and 19 inside Alico Arena.

FOLLOW ALONG

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.

COACH BOTSFORD

Head coach Matt Botsford concluded his first year at the helm of the FGCU volleyball program with a record of 19-11 with a second-place finish in Atlantic Sun Conference play. Botsford's team also had five players recognized as All-Conference winner to set a new program high. Prior to his time in Southwest Florida, Botsford held successful stints as an assistant at Notre Dame, Miami, IUPUI, 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.

SUPPORT THE CAUSE

FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/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 www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help.