FORT MYERS, Fla. – Led by fourth-year head coach Matt Botsford, the FGCU volleyball team opens the 2017 season by hosting FIU, Georgia Southern and IUPUI for the Hilton Garden Inn Invitational this weekend at Alico Arena.

FGCU begins its season with a matchup against FIU Friday at 7 p.m. The Eagles then take on Georgia Southern Saturday at 11 a.m. before wrapping up the weekend against IUPUI at 7 p.m. A complete schedule, including neutral-site games, can be found here. Live stat links for all matches this weekend can be found on the schedule page, and all FGCU matches will also be streamed on ASUN.TV through Facebook Live.

Friday's match has been designated a Blue Out by the FGCU Marketing Department and all fans in attendance will receive a fall sports schedule magnet. Saturday evening is Youth Night, meaning all fans 12 and under will receive free admission. Additionally, pizza and a poster signing will be available in the hospitality suite with Botsford and the team following the 7 p.m. match.

PRESEASON NEWS AND NOTES
After advancing to the ASUN Championship Finals for the first time since 2009, FGCU was selected to finish runner-up in the ASUN by the league's head coaches earlier this month. Defending regular season and tournament champion Lipscomb led the way with 60 points and collected five first-place votes. FGCU tallied 55 points and two first-place votes while Kennesaw State totaled 53 points and the final first-place votes to come in right on the Bisons heels. UNF (39) and Jacksonville (29) were voted fourth and fifth, respectively, while USC Upstate (26), Stetson (14) and NJIT (12) rounded out the poll.

Reigning ASUN Setter of the Year Maggie Rick was tabbed to defend her superlative award and was also joined by teammate Amanda Carroll on the All-Conference Preseason Team. Rick (Alpharetta, Ga./Blessed Trinity Catholic HS) led the conference with 1,260 assists and 10.59 assists per set in 2016, while Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia HS) ranked top-five in the league in kills (485), kills per set (4.41), hitting (.288) and service aces per set (0.35) en route to also becoming the program's first AVCA All-Southeast Region Honorable Mention.  

THE GREEN AND BLUE
Coming off a season of firsts, FGCU returns nine members from its most successful team in program history and welcomes four newcomers to The Nest. Led by the aforementioned Carroll and Rick, the Eagles will make up for the loss of a quartet of seniors from 2016 with a talented class of newcomers including Cortney VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./ Columbus East HS), Snowy Burnam (Jensen Beach, Fla./ Jensen Beach HS), Alayna Ryan (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS) and Sharonda Pickering (Sea Cow's Bay, Tortola, British Virgin Islands/ Elmore Stoutt HS/ Hillsborough CC).

A YEAR OF FIRSTS
RECORD-SETTING WINS
At 27-6, the 2016 Eagles set a new DI program record for wins in a season, besting their previous record set in 2007 by four wins. The team's 27 victories tie for second-most all-time in a single season.
 
SHUTOUT MACHINE
Of FGCU's 27 wins in 2016, 17 of them were shutouts. The team's 17 sweeps tie for the most by an Eagles team in DI history. The Eagles shutout conferences opponents nine times in 2016.
 
STREAKING
FGCU rattled off 15-straight wins in 2016, which became the longest active win streak in the NCAA after #1 Nebraska's streak was snapped with a loss to #14 Ohio State. The last time FGCU won 15 in a row was in 2012 when they initially set the DI program record of 15 straight.

POWER FIVE TAKEDOWN
The Eagles made history in front of a packed house at Alico Arena when they took down Big Ten powerhouse Indiana in a five-set nail-biter, marking the program's first-ever win over a Power Five opponent. The victory over the Hoosiers, who entered the weekend undefeated, capped off a three-game tournament sweep for FGCU in the Homewood Suites Classic.
 
CARROLL KILLS IT
Carroll ended the 2016 season with 485 kills, eclipsing the previous FGCU record set by Olympian Brooke Youngquist-Sweat by nearly 40. Her 4.41 kills per set and 5.10 points per set each set new program records and ranked in the top-25 nationally. With 900 kills in her career, the sophomore is on pace to demolish the Eagles' program record of 1167. She currently sits at fifth on FGCU's all-time kills list.

FIU
FIU is coming off a season in which it went 9-19 overall and 3-11 in C-USA play. However, the Panthers are a veteran team with eight upperclassmen and return three of their top four hitters from last year's squad including Taija Thomas (2.38 K/set), Jennifer Ene (1.78 K/set) and captain Lina Bernier (1.63 K/set). Joining the trio as a returner from the 2016 team is the Panthers' top distributor, Maria De Paula Silva, who dished out 721 assists during her junior season.

FGCU holds a 6-5 advantage in the all-time series between the state rivals and has won each of the last six meetings with FIU's last win against the Green and Blue coming on Nov. 8, 2011. A year ago, the Eagles handed the Panthers a 3-1 defeat in Alico Arena as part of the team's impressive 14-1 home record.

GEORGIA SOUTHERN
Georgia Southern posted a 15-18 overall record with a 7-9 mark in Sun Belt play and were battle tested against a pair of perennial powerhouses in UNC and Penn State to start the 2016 season. Its 15 wins were the most since 2013. The Eagles return a pair of hitters who averaged more than two kills per set a season ago in Catherine Murray (2.31) and Lauren Reichard (2.13). Reichard is also a force on the opposite side of the net as she tallied a team-high 136 total blocks and 1.09 blocks per set.

FGCU and Georgia Southern have matched up on one previous occasion. The visiting Eagles emerged victorious as the Green and Blue traveled to Statesboro, Ga., in 2015 and left with a hard-fought 3-2 win.

IUPUI
After turning in a 12-20 record and going 8-8 in the Summit League a season ago, IUPUI enters the 2017 season with expectations to return to form as the Jaguars won 19 or more games for four straight seasons from 2012-15. Senior hitters Kori Waelbroeck and Gabby Fischer return to lead the Jaguars on the attach as the duo led the team with 3.54 and 3.22 kills per set, respectively. Additionally, Abby Boatman presents a challenge at the net as she registered 111 total blocks and 1.05 blocks per set last year.

Like the Green and Blue and Georgia Southern, FGCU and IUPUI have met on one previous occasion. The Eagles traveled north to Indianapolis during the 2013 season and suffered a 3-0 defeat to the homestanding Jaguars, who went on to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

COACH BOTSFORD
Head coach Matt Botsford finished his third season at the helm of the FGCU volleyball. In 2016, Botsford's squad produced one of its most successful seasons ever at 27-6, with the win total representing the most in Division I program history and falling two shy of the all-time mark. His teams have combined for an overall 67-28 (.705) record, including a 32-10 (.762) 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 15 All-Conference selections in his three 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.