MATCH INFO - FGCU vs USF
When	Match 1: Friday at 4 p.m. Match 2: Saturday at 4 p.m.
Where	Tampa, Fla. | The Corral
Live Stats	Match 1: here Match 2: here
Video	Match 1 (ESPN+): here Match 2 (ESPN+): here
Twitter	@FGCU_VB
Instagram	@FGCU_VB
Facebook	FGCU Volleyball

TAMPA, Fla. - The FGCU volleyball team will kick off the program's first-ever spring regular season on the road against South Florida (2-0) on Friday at 4 p.m. The two teams will also meet on Saturday at 4 p.m. with both matchups taking place in The Corral on the campus of USF.
 

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The matchup represents just the second time in FGCU's Division I era history (2007-present) that the team has opened up the season with a true road match. The last time the Eagles did so came in 2009 in Coral Gables against Miami. Overall, the Green and Blue has won the past three and five of the past six season openers.
 
FGCU has won its last two matchups against USF and holds a 5-3 all-time record against the Bulls. In a 25-13, 25-17, 25-14 neutral site win last year, Cortney VanLiew led the offensive attack with 13 kills, while Chelsey Lockey had team-highs in assists (37) and digs (13). Dana Axner also had double-digit digs with 12. Last year's matchup was the first time since 2015 that the two teams have met and this year will be the first time they've met twice in the same season.
 
The Eagles, who made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament two years ago and came within one set of making a return trip last year, will look to continue to the momentum the program has built over the past six years since head coach Matt Botsford took over. Over the past four seasons alone, the program is tied with Kentucky for 11th nationally in total wins with 103.
 

Rk.	Team	2019	2018	2017	2016	Total
1.	Stanford	30	34	30	27	121
2.	Nebraska	28	29	32	31	120
3.	BYU	26	31	30	29	116
4.	Western Kentucky	31	20	31	30	112
5.	Minnesota	27	27	28	29	111
	Pittsburgh	30	30	26	25	111
7.	Penn State	27	26	33	24	110
	Florida	27	26	30	27	110
9.	Creighton	25	29	26	29	109
	Stephen F. Austin	31	32	26	20	109
11.	FGCU	27	27	22	27	103
	Kentucky	25	26	29	23	103
13.	Wisconsin	27	25	22	28	102
14.	Colorado St.	29	23	29	21	102
15.	Washington	27	20	25	29	101
	Marquette	28	28	22	23	101

 

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Despite a lineup featuring four newcomers and three freshmen, USF went 2-0 in its first weekend under new head coach Jolene Shepardson, who returned to lead her alma mater last January. The Bulls won in five sets in the first match in Jacksonville and closed the second out in four in The Corral. Shepardson became the eighth Bulls head coach to win their debut.
 
Freshman Makayla Washington was dynamic in match two, leading the Bulls with 13 kills, seven blocks and hitting a season-best .458. Freshmen Marta Cvitkovic and Agata Plaga led the Bulls with 25 kills each on the weekend, despite both struggling to hit a high percentage. Cvitkovic also contributed mightily with a team-best seven service aces, 26 digs and seven blocks.
 
Junior transfer Masha Idjilov looked adept running the Bulls' offense as she logged 83 assists and added six kills (three in each match) with some early balls. She also posted five service aces and 17 digs on the weekend.
 

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Individually, FGCU returns several of the best players in program history. Senior outside hitter Cortney VanLiew is the two-time defending ASUN player of the year, while junior libero Dana Axner is the two-time defending ASUN defensive player of the year. Both are selected to repeat with those awards this year, while junior Chelsey Lockey was tabbed by the conference's head coaches to win the ASUN's setter of the year award. In addition to those three, sophomore outside hitter Erin Shomaker was selected to the preseason all-conference team, and head coach Matt Botsford is the back-to-back ASUN coach of the year after leading his team to consecutive regular season conference titles.
 
VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) is on pace to become the program's all-time kills leader, and her 1,213 career kills ranks 13th in the nation among active players. She is also on pace to record 1,000 career digs as she currently sits at 757.
 

Rk.	Name, School	Pos.	Sets	Kills
1.	Yossiana Pressley , Baylor	OH	361	1,649
2.	Taylor Wolf , Marquette	S	360	1,453
	Taylor Wolf , Green Bay	S	360	1,453
4.	Nicole Lennon , Rice	OH	347	1,416
5.	Taylor Bannister , LSU	MB	350	1,363
6.	Hali Wisnoskie , Louisiana	OH	424	1,362
7.	Cheyenne Hayes , Troy	OH	422	1,330
8.	Dani Drews , Utah	OH	376	1,309
9.	Rachel Bontrager , Western Mich.	OH	359	1,305
10.	Valerie Valerian , North Texas	OH	362	1,302
11.	Erika Pritchard , Maryland	OH	364	1,271
12.	Kaylee Martin , Illinois St.	OH	341	1,259
13.	Cortney VanLiew, FGCU	OH	329	1,213
14.	Dana Rettke , Wisconsin	MB	327	1,192
15.	Stephanie Samedy, Minnesota	RS	323	1,173

 
On top of that, VanLiew is looking to join FAMU's Kim Funchess (1986-88) as one of just two players in conference history to be selected as a three-time ASUN postseason player of the year. She is currently one of only six two-time recipients of the award, and she can join a group of just three others in program history to be a three-time postseason all-conference selection.
 
Last year, VanLiew produced 423 kills, 222 digs, 53 blocks, 23 aces and 22 assists while registering 24 matches with 10+ kills, including a program-record tying streak of 15 straight from Aug. 31 through Oct. 5. She notched her 1,000th kill on Sept. 29, 2019 vs Lipscomb. Following the season, she was named Honorable Mention All-Southeast Region by the AVCA and was tabbed the conference's player of the year for the second-consecutive season.
 
The Hoosier State native is already one of just three players in program history to have at least 1,000 kills and 500 digs, along with Amanda Carroll and Brooke Youngquist Sweat, and she has registered 20 career double-doubles. She is on pace to become the program's all-time kills leader and is projected to finish among the top five in ASUN history. Furthermore, she has five career ASUN Player of the Week selections, which is tied for fifth-most in ASUN history. In the summer of 2020, VanLiew was selected to the ASUN's All-Decade Team (2010-19).
 
Meanwhile, Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) ranks 28th in the country in career digs among active players with 1,198, but she ranks third nationally in digs per set at 5.32.
 

Rk.	Name, School	Sets	Digs	Digs/Set
1.	Jenna Story, Wright St.	225	1,256	5.58
2.	Rylee Cookerly, Valparaiso	395	2,111	5.34
3.	Dana Axner, FGCU	225	1,198	5.32
4.	Giorgia Civita, Wisconsin	282	1,467	5.20
5.	Jess Grabowski, Milwaukee	232	1,152	4.97
6.	Madelynn Miller, SFA	335	1,611	4.81
7.	Kylee Macke, Drake	354	1,697	4.79
8.	Marija Popovic, Pittsburgh	362	1,701	4.70
9.	Tatum Ticknor, Arkansas St.	308	1,423	4.62
10.	Raigen Cianciulli, LSU	345	1,545	4.48

 
Axner became the first player in conference history to open her career with back-to-back ASUN defensive player of the year awards last season. She totaled 574 digs, a career-best 5.47 digs per set, 203 assists and 26 aces while recording double-digit digs in all but two matches. She had 10 matches with 20+ digs, including seven in ASUN play and six over her final seven matches. She concluded her season with back-to-back 30-plus dig efforts in the ASUN tournament and posted 21 consecutive double-digit dig performances from Sept. 13 through Nov. 10.
 
The Buckeye State native became the youngest in program history to reach 1,000 career digs on Oct. 22 vs Bethune-Cookman. Her 5.47 digs per set led the ASUN, was ninth-most in the nation and ninth-best in ASUN history, while her 574 digs ranked second in the ASUN and 32nd nationally. In conference play, she recorded 5.54 digs per set and notched three of the program's top 10 all-time three-set dig totals in ASUN regular season play - 24 vs Liberty on Sept. 24, 23 vs Stetson on Nov. 1 and 22 vs North Florida on Nov. 3.
 
Along with VanLiew, Axner not only has a chance to join three others as a three-time all-conference selection, but she also has a chance to be a three-time First Team All-ASUN selection - something no one in program history has done. Furthermore, she is looking to join Amanda Carroll as one of two three-time ASUN all-tourney selections. Her five career ASUN Defensive Player of the Week selections are tied for the most in conference history, and she continues to hold the ASUN record for most Freshman of the Week selections with six, which is also twice as many as anyone else in program history. She enters her junior season ranked second in ASUN history for career digs per set with 5.32. In the summer of 2020, Axner was selected to the ASUN's All-Decade Team (2010-19).
 
Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) took over as the team's full-time setter last season as a sophomore, recording 1,214 assists, or 11.24 per set, while adding 232 digs, 63 blocks, 55 kills and 28 aces. Following the season, she was named Second Team All-ASUN after producing 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. She had a career-high 54 assists against UCF on Sept. 20 and San Diego State on Aug. 31, tallied seven double-doubles in assists and digs, including 41 assists and a career-high 14 digs against Kentucky on Sept. 13, and registered seven matches with 10+ digs.
 
Through two seasons, Lockey has 1,690 assists, which is third-most in program history behind Maggie Rick (4,540) and Gigi Meyer (4,408). She enters her third year with 389 digs, 65 blocks, 59 kills and 41 aces. She is a former ASUN all-freshmen team selection.
 
Shomaker (Granville, Ohio/Granville HS) was named to the preseason all-conference team after becoming FGCU's third-consecutive ASUN freshman of the year last season, where she produced 233 kills, a .273 hitting percentage, 61 digs and 43 blocks. She had nine matches with double-digit attacks and a .300 hitting percentage, and she finished with six double-digit kill performances, including 11 vs No. 15 Kentucky. In the ASUN semifinal win over Lipscomb, she had a season-high 16 kills while hitting .389.
 

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The Eagles will feature a pair of true freshmen this year with setter Hannah Rae Kivett (Chandler, Ind./Castle HS) and Juliana Lentz (Miami, Fla./St. Brendan HS).
 
Kivett, who was named one of only 27 seniors nationally to be among PrepVolleyball.com's Senior Aces, is a three-time First Team All-Metro and All-SIAC selection. She was named her conference's player of the year as a senior and earned AVCA All-Region recognition. Born on Sept. 11, 2001, she broke her school's single-season record for assists. Lentz, meanwhile, led St. Brendan to the state semifinals for the first time in 39 years as a senior. She finished the season with 207 kills and 120 blocks while helping her team to a 25-5 record and earning all-county MVP recognition.
 

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As a team, FGCU was tabbed to win its third-consecutive ASUN regular season championship, edging out Kennesaw State for the top spot in the preseason coaches poll.
 

Place	Team (1st Place Votes)	Points
1.	FGCU (7)	75
2.	Kennesaw State (1)	65
3.	Liberty	56
4.	Lipscomb	55
5.	Stetson (1)	45
6.	North Florida	38
7.	Jacksonville	28
8.	Bellarmine	22
9.	North Alabama	21

 
Following this weekend, FGCU is scheduled to open conference play Feb. 12-13 in DeLand, Fla. against Stetson. Both matches are slated for a 6 p.m. start.
 
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.

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COACH BOTSFORD
Matt Botsford is in his seventh 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.
 
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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 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. 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 (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. 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.