FORT MYERS, Fla. – FGCU volleyball hits the road after two straight weeks at home to compete at the Owls Classic hosted by in-state rival FAU. The Eagles will take on FAU, Tulane, Texas-Rio Grande Valley and Abilene Christian in the three-day tournament. The Green and Blue will open things up with a 7 p.m. match against the Owls on Thursday, Sept. 15. Tournament play will continue for FGCU on Friday, Sept. 16 when they face Tulane at 1:30 p.m. On Saturday, Sept. 17, the Eagles will compete in a 10 a.m. match against Texas-Rio Grande Valley before concluding weekend action with a 4:30 p.m. match against Abilene Christian.
 
Live stats for all tournament matches will be available via Gametracker. FAU's matches will be broadcasted live on FAUSports.TV, which is a paid service.
 
FULL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

DATE	TIME	MATCH
Thursday, Sept. 15	7:00 PM	FAU vs. FGCU
Friday, Sept. 16	11:30 AM	FAU vs. Abilene Christian
	1:30 PM	FGCU vs. Tulane
	4:30 PM	Abilene Christian vs. UTRGV
	7:00 PM	FAU vs. Tulane
Saturday, Sept. 17	10:00 AM	FGCU vs. UTRGV
	12:00 PM	Abilene Christian vs. Tulane
	2:30 PM	FAU vs. UTRGV
	4:30 PM	Abilene Christian vs. FGCU

 
THE GREEN AND BLUE
The Eagles enter the Owls Classic 7-2 after back-to-back home tournament sweeps at the Hilton Garden Inn Classic and the Homewood Suites Classic. FGCU has won six-straight matches and outscored their opponents in 18 of their last 21 sets.  At last weekend's two-day event, the Green and Blue defeated South Alabama 3-1 (25-15, 25-20, 22-25, 25-15) on Friday night before taking down Marist 3-0 (25-11, 25-20, 25-16) and Indiana 3-2 (25-17, 28-26, 17-25, 22-25, 15-12) on Saturday. FGCU's victory over the Big Ten Hoosiers marked the program's first-ever win over a Power Five opponent.
 
Senior Leigh Pudwill (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS/Northern Iowa) was named Tournament MVP of last weekend's Homewood Suites Classic after slamming down 41 kills on 75 attacks with 11 digs and four total blocks on the weekend. Pudwill hasn't fallen below a .410 hitting percentage in her last four matches, while totaling nearly 100 attacks over that span.
 
Sophomore Amanda Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia HS) was also named to the All-Tournament List after recording a team-leading 47 kills in through three days of competition. Carroll posted her second double-double of the season with 20 kills and 12 digs during Friday's win over South Alabama. The Eagles' outside hitter has tallied double-digit kills in her last eight matches.
 
FGCU currently leads the Atlantic Sun Conference in hitting percentage (.301) and stands second behind Lipscomb in kills per set (13.61), assists per set (12.74) and service aces per set (1.68).
 
Setter Maggie Rick (Alpharetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity Catholic HS) is averaging a conference-leading 10.81 assists per match, while Carroll ranks second in ASUN in kills per set (4.10). Two Eagles senior fall within the conference's top five in hitting percentage with Marlene Moeller (Ludinghausen, Germany/Pascal Gymnasium) and Leigh Pudwill (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS/Northern Iowa) averaging .310 and .301 respectively.
 
SCOUTING FAU
The Owls enter the tournament 4-6 after three losses at last weekend's Holiday Inn Orlando East tournament hosted by UCF. FAU fell to UCF 3-1, LSU 3-1 and Seattle 3-2, but saw success the week before with a three-set victory over the ASUN's Stetson and a 3-1 win over the Big East's Georgetown.
 
As a team, the Owls own a hitting percentage of .200 on the season and have held their opponents to .191. Senior Maja Ristic leads FAU's attack with 143 kills (3.40 per set). Last season the outside hitter earned First Team All-Conference USA honors despite missing the final eight matches of the season.
 
Owls head coach Fernanda Nelson enters her fourth year at the helm of FAU after serving as an assistant for the Green and Blue for four seasons. While at FGCU, Nelson helped the Eagles to a 63-43 overall record (46-17 Atlantic Sun Conference record) and the 2008 regular season A-Sun title. She also assisted head coach Dave Nichols in guiding FGCU to a winning record in its first season of sand volleyball in 2012.
 
FAU holds a 6-2 advantage over FGCU all-time. Their last meeting occurred at Alico Arena when Eagles fell 3-1 to their in-state rivals.
 
LIVE STATS
 
SCOUTING TULANE
The Green Waves improved to 6-3 after sweeping the Clemson tournament last weekend. Tulane downed North Dakota in five sets before sweeping host Clemson and East Tennessee State. Tulane is averaging a hitting percentage of .266, second highest in the AAC. They currently rank fourth in the conference with 12.86 assists per set and fifth with 13.78 kills per set.
 
Tulane features a balanced attack with a large array of offensive weapons. In just nine games played, three Green Waves have surpassed 100 kills on the season – Tea Juric (118), Hannah Shaw (111) and Sarah Ray (110). Sophomore Dayna Kerns has locked down the net for the Green Waves with 40.0 (nine solo) so far in 2016.
 
Head coach Jim Barnes is in his first season at the helm of Tulane. Barnes brings 19 years of head coaching experience at the Division I level to the Green Waves with stops at Lamar (1996-01), Wyoming (2002-03) and Baylor (2004-14).
 
This will be the first time in program history that the Eagles have faced the Green Waves.
 
LIVE STATS
 
SCOUTING UT RIO-GRANDE VALLEY
The Broncs enter weekend play 6-4 after going 2-1 at the Texas Tech Tournament last weekend. UTRGV swept Abilene Christian and Stephen F. Austin, but fell 3-0 to host Texas Tech.
 
The Broncs feature a tough defense that has allowed a hitting percentage of just .166 on the season – the lowest in the Western Athletic Conference. UTRGV has registered a conference leading 18.19 digs per set in 2016.
 
Much of the Broncs success on defense comes from senior libero Fatoumata Dascosta who has tallied a conference-leading 182 (4.92 per set) going into this weekend. Three UTRGV players rank within the top six of the WAC in blocks per set – sophomore Alexandra Ecker (44.0 total blocks/1.19 per set), freshman Barbara Silva (42.0 total blocks/1.17 per set) and junior Bojana Mitrovic (33.0 total blocks/1.10 per set).
 
Head Coach Todd Lowery is in his second season with the Broncs. In 2015, Lowey led the team to a 7-8 record in non-conference play before showing signs of serious improvement against WAC teams down the stretch. UTRGV won four of its final eight matches, including a sweep of defending WAC Tournament Champion CSU Bakersfield in the regular season and a sweep of third-seeded Utah Valley in the WAC Tournament Quarterfinals.
 
This meeting will be the first time in program history that the Eagles have faced the Broncs.
 
LIVE STATS
 
SCOUTING ABILENE CHRISTIAN
The Wildcats (1-10) captured their first victory last Tuesday in a five set win over Texas-Arlington. However, the momentum failed to carry over, as Texas Tech, UTRGV and Oral Roberts swept the team in tournament play over the weekend.
 
Offensively, ACU has struggled to find production with a hitting percentage of .091. They've also struggled to keep opponents in check, as competitors have averaged .243 against the Wildcats.
 
Sophomore Jacey Smith is leading ACU's offense with 131.0 points in 2016, and her 2.97 kills ranks  seventh in the Southland Conference. Additionally, Fellow sophomore Lauren Walker is third in the conference with 1.12 blocks per set, and setter Kendall Bosse ranks third with 8.53 assists.
 
Head coach Jason Bibler is in his third season at the helm of the Wildcats volleyball program. He had previously served as an assistant coach for the university before leaving for one season to accept a head coaching position at Texas-Arlington.
 
This will be the first time in program history that the Eagles have faced the Broncs.
 
LIVE STATS
 
UP NEXT
FGCU volleyball stays in Florida next week as they face FIU on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 6 p.m. The Green and Blue have taken on the Panthers nine times since their first meeting in 2008 and have seen victories in their last five meetings. FGCU holds a 5-4 record all-time against their Miami rivals. 
 
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 is in his third year at the helm of the FGCU volleyball program.  His teams have combined for an overall 47-24 (.662) 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.