FORT MYERS, Fla. – A balanced offensive attack and strong defensive play at the net provided the FGCU volleyball team a 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-14) win over Liberty on Sunday afternoon at Alico Arena. The Eagles remain unbeaten in ASUN play at 7-0 while improving to 15-4 overall, while Liberty fell to 6-7 overall and 2-4 in league action.
 
"I thought today was an extension of what we saw on Friday on the defensive end with our blocking and floor defense. We kept them to negative hitting in all three sets and single-digit kills which is pretty impressive regardless of who you are playing," said head coach Matt Botsford. "I was really happy today with our organization between the front and back rows. Liberty has some weapons, so this was a really good performance for us."
 
The Eagles were strong at the net with a 13-to-4 advantage in blocks which helped generate offense for FGCU while forcing Liberty into tough attacks. The Green and Blue hit .256 for the day with 30 kills and just 10 errors, while the Flames were -0.097 with 30 errors and 21 kills.
 
Individually, Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio/Granville HS) led all players with 10 kills to go with four blocks, three digs, and an ace. Seven total Eagles had kills on the day with Aja Jones (Venice, Fla./Venice HS) and Juliana Lentz (Miami, Fla./St. Brendan HS) behind Shomaker with five each. Both Jones and Lentz added five blocks as well to lead the net front defense. Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) picked up 24 assists on FGCU's 30 kills, while Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) secured the back row with 16 digs.
 
Liberty was led by Lilly Kruse and Trinity Watts who each had five kills. Watts added a team-high seven digs.
 
A quick 5-1 run to start the first set gave FGCU all the momentum it needed to secure the opening win. The Eagles expanded the lead to six, 14-8, after a three point run. A five-point run highlighted by a pair of Skylar English (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) aces effectively put the set away as FGCU built its lead to 21-12. The Eagles won four of the ensuing five points to close out the set.
 
Set two started the same with a quick 5-1 FGCU lead, but Liberty was able to close the gap to a point over the next few minutes. A five-point run re-extended the Eagles lead to 15-8 – a run which included three attack errors by the Flames. Another five-point run pushed FGCU's lead to 23-11 and the Eagles closed out the set four points later.
 
In the third set, the Flames got off to the quick start jumping out to a 4-1 lead, but the Eagles scored three straight to tie the game. FGCU scored nine of 10 points to take an 18-10 lead highlighted by three Shomaker kills and four Liberty errors. FGCU closed out the set and the match with three straight errors by the Flames giving the final 25-14 score.
 
Prior to the match, FGCU held a special ceremony presenting Cortney VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) with a commemorative game ball highlighting her breaking the program's career record for kills. After Sunday, VanLiew now has 1,540 for her career. She is also the third person in program history to post both 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career. She currently has 1,029 following today's match.
 
The Eagles will return to action on Saturday, October 16 at Stetson – FGCU's only match of the weekend. The opening serve at the Edmunds Center is set for 6 PM in DeLand.
 
Most Career Kills

1.	1,540	Cortney VanLiew (.225)	2017-present
2.	1,483	Amanda Carroll (.259)	2015-19
3.	1,173	Brooke Youngquist Sweat (.245)	2004-07
4.	1,132	Olivia Mesner (.331)	2011-14
5.	961	Jessica Barnes (.194)	2010-14

 
Most Career Digs 

1.	1,965	Whitney Hendry (390 sets)	2004-07
2.	1,764	Dana Axner (345 sets)	2018-present
3.	1,687	Whitney Masters (483 sets)	2011-14
4.	1,652	Holly Youngquist (418 sets)	2008-11
5.	1,369	Brook Youngquist Sweat (346 sets)	2004-07

 
 
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COACH BOTSFORD
Matt Botsford is in his eighth season as head coach of the FGCU women's volleyball program in 2021 after being hired on Feb. 10, 2014. In his tenure, Botsford-led teams have compiled a 171-56 (.753) record overall, including an 87-19 (.818) record in ASUN play. Including this past year's unprecedented spring season, 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 of the past six seasons and at least 10 wins in conference play every season. 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 three straight regular season titles, including a division title and ASUN tournament runner-up finish in the spring 2021 season. 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. In 2018, 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 85 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 42 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) 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 in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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.
 
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