MADISON, Wis. – After a thrilling five-set win to open the NCAA Tournament on Friday against Texas Tech, the FGCU volleyball team could not repeat that magic Saturday night against the No. 4 seed Wisconsin falling to the Badgers, 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-15).

The Eagles finish the season with a 27-6 overall record which included a 15-1 ASUN record, a 14-0 record at Alico Arena, and their second NCAA Tournament appearance and win in program history. The 27 wins tied the program record for a single season alongside the 2016 and 2018 squads.

"That was a tough match against an excellent opponent. I thought our team competed their tails off, and though we would have liked to execute a higher level and apply pressure a little more consistently, there were spurts in the match were we did extremely well," said head coach Matt Botsford. "It's a disappointing way to end, but it's certainly not a reflection of our season by any stretch.We'll celebrate the season we had and not dwell on the last match we played. It was an honor to play in this sort of environment and I'm excited that our team had a chance to play in this sort of venue." 

Junior Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio/Granville HS) led the Eagles with 10 kills while freshman Skylar English (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) had eight with a team-high .412 hitting percentage. Senior Cortney VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) also chipped in with seven kills while hitting .294 in her final game wearing the Green and Blue while senior Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo.) dished out 26 assists.

Defensively, VanLiew led the Eagles with eight digs while English, redshirt sophomore Emma Szypszak (Mequon, Wis./Homestead HS), and Aja Jones (Venice, Fla./Venice HS) each had three blocks.

As a team, the Eagles hit .184 while Wisconsin and its top-10 offense hit .455. The Badgers held a slight advantage in blocks with 11 compared to 10 for FGCU while each team had two service aces.

The two teams traded points early in the first set until a 5-1 run by the Badgers gave them a 13-8 lead. The Eagles got back to within three at 14-11 but that was as close as they would get the rest of the set.

Wisconsin opened the second set by winning the first two points and never gave up the lead. Facing set point at 24-17, the Eagles scored three straight on two kills by Shomaker and an ace by English, but a service error followed, clinching the set for the Badgers.

With the score tied at five in the third set, the Badgers took control as they went on a 5-0 run to take a 10-5 lead. Two straight kills by Szypszak got the Eagles back to within three, but an 8-1 run by Wisconsin put the Eagles in an 18-8 hole, which proved to be too much to fight back from.

Wisconsin improves to 27-3 and will advance to the Sweet 16 to play either #13 UCLA or UCF.

Most Career Kills

1.	1,658	Cortney VanLiew (.226)	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.	1,958	Dana Axner (389 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

 
Most Career Assists 

1.	4,540	Maggie Rick (467 sets)	2015-18
2.	4,408	Gigi Myer (474 sets)	2011-14
3.	3,484	Chelsey Lockey (382 sets)	2018-present
4.	3,108	Chandra Lefever (309 sets)	2006-09
5.	1,809	Laura Monovill (186 sets)	2004-05

 
Most Career Total Blocks 

1.	483	Daniele Serrano (442 sets)	2016-19
2.	342	Olivia Mesner (428 sets)	2011-14
3.	287	Ashley Yance (313 sets)	2005-09
4.	247	Ericka Fonseca (216 sets)	2005-06
5.	222	Aja Jones (182 sets)	2019-present

 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 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 184-59 (.757) record overall, including a 96-20 (.827) 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 six of the past seven 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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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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