TAMPA, Fla. - The FGCU volleyball team (2-0) completed a weekend sweep of South Florida (2-2) on the road Saturday afternoon with a 25-22, 25-17, 25-21 straight set victory inside The Corral behind big offensive performances from Erin Shomaker and Cortney VanLiew.
 
"We played a cleaner brand of volleyball today, but we still have a long ways to go," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "Our offensive efficiency will need to improve, and our defensive blocking was not as organized as it should be. On the positive side, I thought Erin and Kortney contributed immediately today and allowed us to distribute the ball more effectively. Tori was also a big factor, and I thought that she and Chelsey connected very well."
 
VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) had a team-high 14 kills along with five digs and three assists, while Shomaker (Granville, Ohio/Granville HS) had 13 kills, eight digs, five aces and three blocks. The duo combined for just three errors over 69 attempts. As a team, the Eagles hit .327.
 
On the defensive side, Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) recorded a match-high 20 digs along with six assists, which was second-most on the team. It was her second-consecutive match with at least 20 digs to open the season, which also pushed her career total in such matches to 25. At the net, Tori Morris (Virginia Beach, Va./Floyd E. Kellam HS) led the team with four blocks to go along with her seven kills and .429 hitting percentage.
 
Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) tacked on 31 assists and four digs.
 
FGCU will be back in action on Feb. 12-13 at Stetson to open ASUN play.
 
Notes
With her 44 total digs this weekend, Axner eclipsed 1,200 career digs and sits at 1,242, or 5.3 per set ... Morris is one block shy of 200 in her career after tallying 13 in the two matches vs USF ... VanLiew pushed her career kill total to 1,257, and she also sits 26 digs shy of 800.
 
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 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 145-50 (.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 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.
 
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--