FORT MYERS, Fla. - The FGCU volleyball team continued to shine on the court in 2019 as the Eagles won a program-record 26 regular season matches, claimed a second-consecutive ASUN regular season championship and advanced to the ASUN tournament championship match before falling to Kennesaw State in five sets.
The Green and Blue finished 27-5 overall, tying the program's Division I era program record for most overall wins in a season for the third time in four years. They opened the season with back-to-back championships in the Homewood Suites Fort Myers Classic and the Hurricane Invitational. Following tough losses to Indiana and No. 15 Kentucky, the Eagles bounced back with wins over Miami (Fla.), UCF and Florida Atlantic to capture the Sunshine State Challenge title. Following that, FGCU breezed to the ASUN regular season title with a 14-2 record.
Head coach
Matt Botsford captured his second-straight ASUN Coach of the Year award after leading the Eagles to a fifth-consecutive 20-plus win season. During that stretch, FGCU has compiled a 124-39 record, which ties them with Kentucky for the 11th-most wins in the nation over the past four years.
Cortney VanLiew, a junior outside hitter, became FGCU's first outright back-to-back ASUN Player of the Year, was tabbed AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region and earned a spot on the ASUN's All-Academic team. She had 24 matches with at least 10 kills, including a program-record tying streak of 15 straight. On top of that, she had seven double-doubles, while leading the conference and finishing 43rd and 45th nationally in kills/set and points/set. Overall, she finished with 423 kills, 222 digs and 53 blocks.
Entering her final season,
VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) ranks 12th in ASUN history in career kills per set and is on pace to become the program's all-time kills leader while finishing among the top five in conference history. Her five career ASUN player of the week selections is tied for fifth-most in conference history, and she can become just the second player in program history (
Maggie Rick) to be a three-time academic all-conference selection. Her five career ASUN player of the week selections is tied for the fifth-most in conference history.
Dana Axner, a sophomore libero, racked up her second-straight ASUN Defensive Player of the Year award and was named to the AVCA's First-Team All-Southeast Region squad. She tallied 574 digs, which included 10 matches with at least 20, as well as seven in ASUN play and six over her final seven matches. She finished with back-to-back 30-plus dig matches in the ASUN tournament en route to all-tournament team recognition, while her 5.42 digs/set overall led the conference, ranked 12th-best in the nation and was the ninth-best single-season finish in ASUN history.
On Oct. 22,
Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) became the youngest in program history to reach 1,000 career digs and currently ranks 32nd in ASUN history with 1,198 through just two seasons. Her 5.32 career digs per set is second best all-time in the conference, and she has a chance to become FGCU's first-ever three-time First Team All-ASUN selection next year. She can also join
Amanda Carroll as one of two three-time ASUN all-tournament team selections in program history, and her five career ASUN defensive player of the week selections is tied for the most in conference history.
Daniele Serrano (Sanford, Fla./Seminole HS), a senior middle blocker, concluded a storied career that saw her become the ASUN's all-time leader in total blocks with 483. The Second-Team All-ASUN selection had a team-high 120 blocks on a squad that ranked third nationally in opponent hitting percentage, and her .338 career hitting percentage ranks 11th in ASUN annals. Furthermore, Serrano was named the ASUN player of the week on Nov. 4, and she finished her career with three ASUN defensive player of the week selections, which is the second-most in program history behind Axner and the fifth-most in conference history. She also joined
Maggie Rick and
Amanda Carroll as one of just three players in program history to be at least a three-time all-conference selection.
Amanda Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia HS), the program's all-time leader in kills who returned for her graduate season and accepted a more defensive role in 2019, had a vintage final match as she totaled a season-high 14 kills at a .400 clip with 15 digs in the ASUN tournament championship for her 44th career double-double, the most in the program's Division I era. The outside hitter finished her career as the program's all-time kills leader with 1,483, which also places her ninth in conference history. Furthermore, her 137 aces and 1,247 digs place her sixth and 27th, respectively, in ASUN history for a career.
Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio/Granville HS) earned the ASUN's Freshman of the Year award, as the outside hitter had nine matches with double-digit attacks and a .300 hitting percentage. She had six double-digit kill performances, including 11 vs No. 15 Kentucky and 16 in the ASUN semifinal win over Lipscomb, and she earned ASUN freshman of the week recognition on Sept. 9.
Meanwhile, the duo of junior outside hitter
Snowy Burnam and sophomore setter
Chelsey Lockey also earned Second-Team All-ASUN recognition.
Burnam (Palm City, Fla./Jensen Beach HS) tallied 211 kills, a career-high 26 aces, 225 digs and a career-best 74 blocks (three solo). She had seven matches with at least 10 digs and seven with at least 10 kills, which included a pair of double-doubles.
Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) became the team's full-time starter at setter following the graduation of
Maggie Rick and produced 1,214 assists (11.24/set), 232 digs, 63 blocks (six solo), 55 kills and 28 aces. She had at least 20 assists in every match, including 28 matches with at least 30, 12 with at least 40 and four with at least 50 - including a career-high 54 against UCF on Sept. 20 and San Diego State on Aug. 31. On top of that, the sophomore tallied seven double-doubles in assists and digs, which included 41 assists and a career-high 14 digs against Kentucky on Sept. 13.
For complete coverage of the volleyball program, follow the Eagles on Twitter at
@FGCU_VB, on Instagram at
@FGCU_VB, on Facebook at
/FGCUVolleyball and online at FGCUathletics.com. You can also sign-up to have news on FGCU volleyball or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting
www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
COACH BOTSFORD
Matt Botsford completed his sixth season as head coach of the FGCU women's volleyball program in 2019 after being hired on Feb. 10, 2014. In his tenure, Botsford-led teams have compiled a 143-50 (.741) record overall, including a 71-17 (.807) record in ASUN play. Including 2019, he has taken the program to heights it has not seen in the Division-I era (2007-present) – registering at least 20 wins overall in five straight seasons and at least 10 wins in conference play six straight seasons. Furthermore, the team's offensive efficiency has drastically improved since Botsford started. In his first two seasons, his squad produced hitting percentages of .212 and .220. The next two, which saw .267 and .256 percentages, are the third and fourth highest in program history. In 2018, he led the program to its first regular season championship since 2012 (fourth overall) and its first-ever ASUN tournament title, NCAA tournament appearance, NCAA tournament win and victory over a ranked team. His first two campaigns resulted in ASUN regular season runner-up finishes, and the following two saw the Eagles advance to the tournament championship and now the team has won two straight regular season titles. On Sept. 10, 2016, Botsford led his team to a five-set win over Indiana in Alico Arena, which signified the program's first-ever win over a team from a Power-5 conference. Last year, he led the team to a win over Miami (Fla.) - the program's first-ever road Power-5 win, and the Eagles followed that up with a straight-set win over the Hurricanes at a neutral site in 2019.
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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 raise awareness.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 36 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including both men's and women's soccer again in 2018. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2018 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for twenty consecutive semesters. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
