HYPE VIDEO
 
FORT MYERS, Fla. – FGCU volleyball will continue tournament play this weekend when they host the Homewood Suites Classic at Alico Arena. The two-day event marks the second of back-to-back weekend tournaments hosted by FGCU. Head coach Matt Botsford and his squad will welcome South Alabama, Marist and Indiana to the Nest on Friday, Sept. 9 and Saturday, Sept. 10. The Eagles will open tournament play with a 6 p.m. match against South Alabama on Friday. The team will face Marist at 10 a.m. on Saturday before wrapping up the weekend with a 7 p.m. match against Indiana.
 
This will be the first time in program history that the Eagles have faced any of the three teams.
 
Every game will be broadcast live via ASUN TV with the exception of Friday's 10 a.m. match (South Alabama vs. Marist). 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 FGCUTickets.com or by calling the university's ticket office at 239-590-7145.
 
FULL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

DATE	TIME	MATCH
Friday, Sept. 9	10 AM	South Alabama vs. Marist
	2:30 PM	Marist vs. Indiana
	6 PM	FGCU vs. South Alabama
Saturday, Sept. 10	10 AM	FGCU vs. Marist
	1 PM	Indiana vs. South Alabama
	7 PM	FGCU vs. Indiana

 
PROMOTIONS
FGCU vs. Indiana: Fans are encouraged to wear blue when the Eagles face off against Indiana on Saturday night. In addition, the match will feature RA appreciation night. As a thank you from our team, all FGCU RAs are invited to attend the match as our special guests and will be given VIP treatment.
 
THE GREEN AND BLUE
The Eagles enter the tournament 4-2 after a three-game sweep in the Hilton Garden Inn Classic. FGCU will be looking to extend their streak of nine-straight set wins after producing three match victories in the minimum nine sets last weekend. The Eagles defeated Delaware on Friday night before taking down New Orleans (26-24, 25-11, 25-17) on Saturday and shutting out VCU (25-21, 25-19, 25-11) later that night.
 
Setter Maggie Rick (Alpharetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity Catholic HS) was named Tournament MVP after tallying 112 assists in two days of actions, while sophomore Amanda Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M/Sandia HS) earned All-Tournament recognition with 42 kills and 22 digs on the weekend. After two weeks of play, Rick leads the Atlantic Sun Conference with 10.68 assists per set. Carroll is currently leading the conference in kills per set with 4.21 kills per set and ranks top-five in service aces per set (0.42).
 
Carroll has tallied a team-leading 80 kills on the season. With 394 kills in her career, she will be in search of her 400^th during this weekend's tournament.
 
Libero Courtney Stephens (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park HS) and senior Marlene Moeller (Ludinghausen, Germany/Pascal Gymnasium) rank top-5 in the ASUN in service aces per set and hitting percentage respectively.
 
The Green and Blue averaged a hitting percentage of .340 in last weekend's tournament, while holding their opponents to an average of .112. FGCU's .278 hitting percentage on the season ranks second in the ASUN behind preseason favorite Lipscomb. The Eagles recorded a season-best hitting percentage in their Saturday night match against VCU last weekend when they hit .404 as a team, including .680 in the third set.
 
SCOUTING SOUTH ALABAMA
The Jaguars started their season 6-1 and enter the Homewood Suites Classic on a four-game winning streak. South Alabama moved to 3-0 in five-set matches after defeating Southern Mississippi 3-2 in their last match on Tuesday. The Jaguars currently rank second in the Sun Belt Conference in hitting percentage (.243) and third in service aces per set (1.79).
 
Freshman Iva Durdanovic ranks second in the SBC in service aces per set (0.48), while Arissa Chappell is seventh in the conference with 0.39 per set.
 
Senior Sarah Richardson ranks fifth in the SBC in hittng percentage (.339) entering this weekend's tournament. Richardson was named the most valuable player at last weekend's Jaguar Invitational recording 23 kills and a .413 hitting percentage in three matches.
 
ASUNTV LIVE STREAM | LIVESTATS | TICKETS
 
SCOUTING MARIST
 
The Red Foxes come to Alico Arena in search of their first victory of the season after dropping three matches at the Cornell Invitational last weekend. Marist sits at 0-6 on the year and will be looking to improve their offensive efficiency after averaging a hitting percentage of .088 through their first two weeks of play.  
 
Freshman Megan Fergus leads the team offensively with 46 kills on the season (2.30 per set). Fellow rookie Nikki DeSerpa has provided Marist a lift from the service line with eight aces, third-most in the MAAC.
 
Libero Lexi Millington currently leads the conference with 100 digs and an average of five digs per set. The senior defensive cornerstone set the program's record for digs in a season when she dove for 557 in 2015.
 
ASUNTV LIVE STREAM | LIVESTATS | TICKETS
 
SCOUTING INDIANA
The Hoosiers have displayed dominance early on this year, beginning their year 7-0. In the 25 sets they've played this season, Indiana has only been outscored in four. The Hoosiers are currently leading the Big Ten with 53 service aces (2.1) per set. As a team, they've averaged a hitting percentage of .325, while allowing their opponents an average of .192.
 
Redshirt freshman Kendall Beerman leads the Hoosiers offensively with 85 kills, followed closely by senior Allison Hammond who has amassed 71. Hammond has also recorded nine service aces, but it's senior Taylor Lebo who leads the team in the statistical category slamming down 11.
 
Setter Megan Tallman paces Indiana's impressive offense, and has tallied 222 assists (10.1 per set) so far this season.
 
ASUNTV LIVE STREAM | LIVESTATS | TICKETS
 
UP NEXT
Following this weekend's event, the Eagles will pay a visit to their in-state rivals in Miami to participate in the FAU Invitational. FGCU will take on FAU, Tulane, Texas-Rio Grande Valley and Abilene Christian in the three-day event. The Green and Blue open things up with a 7 p.m. match against the Owls on Thursday, Sept. 15. Tournament play will continue for the Eagles on Friday, Sept. 16 when they face Tulane at 1:30 p.m. On Saturday, Sept. 17, FGCU 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.
 
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 44-24 (.647) 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.