HYPE VIDEO 

FORT MYERS, Fla. – FGCU volleyball will begin their home slate this weekend when they host the Hilton Garden Inn Classic at Alico Arena. The Eagles will welcome Delaware, New Orleans and VCU for the two-day tournament on Friday, Sept. 2 and Saturday, Sept. 3. FGCU will open tournament play with a 6 p.m. match against Delaware on Friday. The team will face New Orleans at 10 a.m. on Saturday before wrapping up the weekend with a 7 p.m. match against VCU.
 
Every game will be broadcast live via ASUN TV with the exception of Friday's 10 a.m. match (New Orleans vs. Delaware). Fans can access the video stream through FGCUathletics.com. Live stats for all six games will be available via StatBroadcast. For those looking to attend the game, tickets can be purchased online at FGCUatheltics.com or by calling the university's ticket office at 239-590-7145.
 
FULL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

DATE	TIME	MATCH
Friday, Sept. 2	10 AM	New Orleans vs. Delaware
	2:30 PM	VCU vs. New Orleans
	6 PM	FGCU vs. Delaware
Saturday, Sept. 3	10 AM	FGCU vs. New Orleans
	1:30 PM	Delaware vs. VCU
	7 PM	FGCU vs. VCU

 
PROMOTIONS
FGCU vs. Delaware: Fans are encouraged to wear white for the Eagles home opener against the Blue Hens. In addition, the team will be giving away 2016 FGCU volleyball magnet schedules to those who attend the match.
FGCU vs. VCU: Saturday night is Camper Night! Summer volleyball campers are invited to attend the Eagles 7 p.m. match for free. When the match is over, the student-athletes will be signing posters on the court. After the signing, dinner is on us. Fans are invited to the hospitality suite for a pizza party hosted by head coach Matt Botsford where they can snag a slice and get to know our players.
 
THE GREEN AND BLUE
The Eagles enter the tournament 1-2 after opening their season on the road at the Bobcat Invitational last weekend. FGCU shut out host Ohio, who earned an NCAA tournament berth in 2015, but fell to Villanova in three sets and No. 22 Western Kentucky in four.
 
Freshman Ciara DeBell (Ocala, Fla./Vanguard HS) was named to the All-Tournament Team after posting 28 kills and three service aces on the weekend. The rookie outside hitter provided a spark for the Eagles offense during their first match against Villanova when she led the team with 11 kills and recorded a hitting percentage of .345.
 
Freshman Daniele Serrano (Ocala, Fla./Seminole HS) also made an impact in her Eagles debut, tallying a team-leading seven blocks in the tournament.
 
After stellar rookie seasons, sophomores Amanda Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia HS) and Maggie Rick (Alpharetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity Catholic HS) have become offensive cornerstones for the Eagles. Carroll finished the weekend with 3.80 kills per set, good for second most in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Her six service aces during the three-set match against Ohio mark a career high for Carroll and the most by an Eagle in a single match since 2011. Rick tallied an ASUN-leading 9.10 assists per set coming out of the weekend. Throughout the three games, she facilitated an offensive attack that allowed 10 players to record kills.
 
As a team, FGCU owns a hitting percentage of .225 to start the season and has averaged 12.8 kills per set trailing only preseason conference favorite Lipscomb in the ASUN. FGCU recorded a season-best .303 hitting percentage in their victory over Ohio, while holding the Bobcats to just .078.
 
SCOUTING DELAWARE
The Blue Hens enter this weekend's tournament undefeated after three sweeps in the Kristen Dickmann Invitational. Delaware defeated Coppin State, New Hampshire and Navy in three sets to start the season 3-0. The team features an efficient offense, averaging a .303 hitting percentage. Freshman Maria Bellinger has led the attack for the Blue Hens through their first three games with 28 kills.  Junior Daria Robinson and redshit senior Alexa Swann have also contributed heavily on offense recording 24 and 22 kills respectively.
 
Swann, who is serving as the team's co-captain this year, also leads the Blue Hens with 11 blocks (five solo) and is ranked third in the Colonial Athletic Association with a hitting percentage of .513.
 
Senior Julia Anderson paces the offense as the team's setter. Her 11.67 assists per set lead the CAA.
 
Defensively, Delaware is holding its opponents to a stingy .078 hitting percentage and 9.7 kills per set. The Blue Hens are also producing double the amount of blocks as their competitors – 2.4 pet set compared to 1.2. Co-captain and libero Taylor Hollingsworth sits at the top of the CAA with 5.56 digs per set. Autumn Jenkins has also contributed defensively with 32 digs.
 
Friday will mark the first meeting between the two programs.

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SCOUTING NEW ORLEANS
New Orleans picked up its first win of the year with a 3-1 victory over Louisiana Tech and are now 1-2 on the season. The Privateers' victory came between four-set losses to Southeast Missouri and Illinois-Chicago during the Redhawks Drury Hotels Invitational. After opening weekend, New Orleans is led offensively by freshman Jordan Yauch, who tallied 35 kills in the tournament.
 
Redshirt senior Keke Richard has also contributed offensively with 23 kills and a Southland Conference leading .611 hitting percentage. Her successful weekend earned her recognition as a Southland Player of the Week honorable mention.
 
As a team, the Privateers are leading the conference with 19 service aces. Sophomore Blessing Dunn is responsible for six of them, while ­­freshman Sarah Thomas trails closely behind with five.
 
FGCU holds a 1-0 record against New Orleans after defeating the Privateers in three sets during last year's Hilton Garden Inn/Homewood Suites Classic. FGCU took the first set 25-16, before heading into the break with a 2-0 lead thanks to a 25-19 win in the second set. After a slow start in the third set, the Green and Blue closed out the match with a 25-16 set win.

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SCOUTING VCU
The Rams are in search of their first victory in 2016 after dropping three matches at the Hampton Invitational last weekend. Bowling Green, No. 23 Louisville and Oakland each defeated VCU in three sets causing an 0-3 start to the season.
 
The Rams will be looking to improve their offense this weekend, after accumulating a .137 hitting percentage in their opening tournament. Limiting errors will also be important to VCU, who has committed 57 so far on the season.
 
Junior Alicia Kandler and freshman Cece Madison were responsible for the majority of the Rams attack with 33 kills and 27 kills respectively in the tournament. Libero Rebekah Strange leads the defense with 5.11 digs per set. She is assisted defensively along the net by freshman Jasmine Sneed who has tallied 10 blocks on the season.
 
FGCU is 0-1 all-time against VCU, with their only meeting taking place in the opening match of 2013. The Eagles put up a fight, but fell 3-0 (27-25, 25-17, 25-22) to the Rams in the first match of the IUPUI Invitational.

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UP NEXT
The Green and Blue continue their home slate next weekend as they host the Homewood Suites Classic. South Alabama, Marist and Indiana will pay a visit to Alico Arena for the two-day event. FGCU will face the Jaguars on Friday, Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. The Eagles will continue tournament play on Saturday, Sept. 10 when they take on Marist at 10 a.m. before concluding action with a 7 p.m. match against Indiana.
 
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 enters his third year at the helm of the FGCU volleyball program.  His teams have combined for an overall 41-24 (.631) record, including a 21-7 (.750) mark in ASUN play. In his inaugural season, the Eagles finished with a record of 19-11 with a second-place ASUN finish. Botsford has coached 10 All-Conference selections in his two seasons. 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. A former professional volleyball player, he is a 1998 graduate of Tri-State University (now Trine), 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.