FGCU Volleyball Information
When	Match 5 at Stetson: Saturday at 12 p.m. Match 6 at Stetson: Sunday at 3 p.m.
Where	DeLand, Fla. | Edmunds Center
Live Stats	Sidearm (same link for both matches)
Video	ESPN+ (Saturday | Sunday)
Twitter	@FGCU_VB
Instagram	@FGCU_VB
Facebook	FGCU Volleyball

DELAND, Fla. - The FGCU volleyball team (3-1, 1-1 ASUN) will continue conference play on the road this weekend with a series against Stetson (1-0, 0-0) beginning Saturday at 12 p.m. inside J. Ollie Edmunds Center. The series was initially slated to take place last weekend but had to be rescheduled for Covid-19 reasons.
 
Both matches are slated to air on ESPN+ with Evan Weston and Cheryl Carlson on the call.
 
The Eagles are 23-2 all-time against Stetson with 13 straight victories in the series dating back to Nov. 21, 2013. The Eagles have lost just eight sets during the winning streak and carry an 11-1 record on the road in the series.
 
Friday's match will be considered the conference opener for Stetson (1-0), who knocked off Florida Atlantic 3-1 on Jan. 31 in its lone non-conference tilt. The Hatters were led by their offensive star, Elena Djokovic, who produced career-highs in kills (22) and digs (17) in the victory. The sophomore outside hitter was named the ASUN's player of the week on Feb. 2 for her performance, and she earned a spot on the ASUN's All-Freshmen team last year. Senior libero Chelcie Spence is also approaching 1,000 career digs as her and senior setter, Naina Ivanova, have never missed a match in their first three seasons.

The Green and Blue, meanwhile, split a pair of matches on the road against North Florida to open conference play last weekend. In the opener, Erin Shomaker produced career-bests in kills (21) and digs (12) for her first collegiate double-double.

Cortney VanLiew, who added 17 kills and six digs in the four-set loss, tacked on 16 kills and 11 digs in Monday's finale to help the Eagles finish the series with a straight-set victory. Chelsey Lockey also recorded a double-double with 30 assists, 10 digs and three kills in what was the fourth-straight 30-assist performance to open her junior campaign. Dana Axner combined for 33 digs in the series to move past Amanda Carroll for the third most career digs in program history.
 
ASUN STANDINGS/SCHEDULE  

Place	Team	Overall	ASUN
1.	Kennesaw State	4-0	4-0
2.	Lipscomb	5-1	2-0
3.	FGCU	3-1	1-1
4.	Liberty	2-3	2-2
5.	North Florida	2-6	1-1
6.	Stetson	1-0	0-0
	Jacksonville	2-2	0-0
8.	North Alabama	0-3	0-2
9.	Bellarmine	1-7	0-4

 
Saturday, Feb. 20
Kennesaw State at Liberty, 2:30 PM
North Alabama at Lipscomb, 2 PM
North Florida at Jacksonville, 7 PM
FGCU at Stetson, 12 PM
 
Sunday, Feb. 21
Kennesaw State at Liberty, 3 PM
North Alabama at Lipscomb, 2 PM
North Florida at Jacksonville, 7 PM
FGCU at Stetson, 3 PM
 
GREEN AND BLUE NOTES Cortney VanLiew continues to stamp her name all over the FGCU record books as the senior leads the Eagles in kills (77) and kills per set (5.13). Last weekend, the senior outside hitter surpassed Amanda Carroll (572, 2015-19) for the program's second-most career kills in ASUN regular season play with 573, and she now sets her sight on the top spot currently held by Olivia Mesner (607, 2011-14).
 
Most Career Kills - ASUN Regular Season Play
FGCU History
 

1.	607	Olivia Mesner (.365)	2011-14
2.	573	Cortney VanLiew (.241)	2017-present
3.	572	Amanda Carroll (.245)	2015-19
4.	521	Jessica Barnes (.207)	2010-14
5.	497	Kaitlin Holm (.270)	2011-13

 
Should she eclipse that milestone, VanLiew will then move toward the program's Division I era career kills record currently held by Carroll, who produced 1,483 kills in her illustrious career. VanLiew is 194 shy of breaking the record.
 
Most Career Kills
FGCU's Division I Era (2007-present)
 

1.	1,483	Amanda Carroll (.259)	2015-19
2.	1,290	Cortney VanLiew (.235)	2017-present
3.	1,132	Olivia Mesner (.331)	2011-14
4.	961	Jessica Barnes (.194)	2010-14
5.	926	Kaitlin Holm (.227)	2011-13

 
In terms of the program's ASUN regular season record book, VanLiew also moved past Carroll for the most career attack attempts last weekend, and she is approaching Mesner and Carroll for the career points record.
 
Most Career Attack Attempts - ASUN Regular Season Play
FGCU History
 

1.	1,570	Cortney VanLiew	2017-present
2.	1,560	Amanda Carroll	2015-19
3.	1,450	Jessica Barnes	2010-14
4.	1,216	Kaitlin Holm	2011-13
5.	1,207	Olivia Mesner	2011-14

 
Most Career Points - ASUN Regular Season Play
FGCU History
 

1.	724.0	Olivia Mesner (607k 2a 40-150b)	2011-14
2.	686.5	Amanda Carroll (572k 60a 19-71b)	2015-19
3.	644.0	Cortney VanLiew (573k 28a 13-60b)	2017-present
4.	588.5	Kaitlin Holm (497k 13a 28-101b)	2011-13
5.	575.0	Ana Kokanovic (459k 95a 7-28b)	2007-08

 
Dana Axner leads the Eagles defensively with team-highs in digs (77) and digs per set (5.13). She currently ranks third on the program's Division I era career list after passing Carroll this past weekend, and she also ranks third on the program's ASUN regular season play career digs list. She has at least 14 digs in every match, as well as five or more assists in three of four.
 
Most Career Digs - ASUN Regular Season Play
FGCU History
 

1.	966	Holly YOUNGQUIST (241 sets)	2008-11
2.	889	Whitney MASTERS (245 sets)	2011-14
3.	597	Dana AXNER (110 sets)	2018-present
4.	562	Amanda CARROLL (191 sets)	2015-19
5.	517	Courtney STEPHENS (206 sets)	2014-17

 
 Most Career Digs
FGCU's Division I Era (2007-present)
 

1.	1,687	Whitney Masters (483 sets)	2011-14
2.	1,652	Holly Youngquist (418 sets)	2008-11
3.	1,275	Dana Axner (240 sets)	2018-present
4.	1,247	Amanda Carroll (451 sets)	2015-19
5.	1,084	Courtney Stephens (451 sets)	2014-17
6.	947	Gigi Meyer (474 sets)	2011-14
7.	877	Karissa Rhoades (379 sets)	2015-18
8.	823	Maggie Rick (467 sets)	2015-18
9.	791	Cortney VanLiew (344 sets)	2017-present
10.	681	Vanessa Benks (164 sets)	2013-15

Sophomore outside hitter Erin Shomaker notched the first double-double of her career last weekend and fell just one kill shy of making it two straight on Monday as she also tallied 11 digs. On Sunday, she recorded a career-high 21 kills. Axner (77), VanLiew (34) and Shomaker (31) have the most total digs on the team, although Shomaker ranks second in digs per set at 3.10.
 
Meanwhile, Chelsey Lockey has recorded back-to-back double-doubles in her past two outings to push her career total to 12. She had 39 assists, 10 digs, six kills and six blocks in the opener against North Florida before tacking on 30 assists, 10 digs and three kills in the finale. The junior setter is averaging 10.33 assists per set this season.
 
Junior middle blocker Tori Morris is nearing the top five of the program's Division I era career blocks list. She is just two shy of eclipsing Carroll for the fifth spot and seven shy of passing Kaitlin Holm for fourth place.

Most Career Blocks
FGCU's Division I Era (2007-present)
 

1.	483	Daniele Serrano (442 sets)	2016-19
2.	342	Olivia Mesner (428 sets)	2011-14
3.	271	Ashley Yance (296 sets)	2007-09
4.	205	Kaitlin Holm (359 sets)	2011-13
5.	200	Amanda Carroll (451 sets)	2015-19
6.	199	Tori Morris (165 sets)	2018-present

NATIONAL LEADERS Several Eagles rank among the national leaders in individual statistical categories:
 
Aces Per Set - Erin Shomaker (6th, 0.90)
Assists Per Set - Chelsey Lockey (46th, 10.33)
Attacks Per Set - Cortney VanLiew (5th, 13.13), Erin Shomaker (67th, 10.80)
Digs Per Set - Dana Axner (38th, 5.13)
Kills Per Set - Cortney VanLiew (5th, 5.13), Erin Shomaker (34th, 4.30)
Points Per Set - Erin Shomaker (7th, 5.65), Cortney VanLiew (12th, 5.43)

AWARD-WINNING RIGHT ARM On Monday, VanLiew was named the ASUN's player of the week for the second time this year after averaging 16.5 kills and 8.5 digs in a weekend series at North Florida.
 
In doing so, the Hoosier State native not only extends her program-record number of career selections to seven, but she has now tied Jacksonville's Sammie Strausbaugh and UCF's Renata Menchikova for the third most in ASUN history behind Lipscomb's Carlyle Nusbaum (12) and Alex Kelly (8).
 
VanLiew is now just 10 kills away from 1,300 in her career, and she needs nine more digs to eclipse 800 in that category. She produced her second double-double of the season on Monday, which was also the 22nd of her career. On top of that, she has at least 14 kills in each match this year with a .269 overall hitting percentage.
 
AMONG THE BEST IN THE NATION 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

 
PRESEASON FAVORITE 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

 
MEDIA CORNER FGCU freshmen Juliana Lentz and Hannah Rae Kivett were recently featured as part of the first episode of a student-ran ENTV segment, Welcome to The Nest, hosted by Ian Lynch. You can find the full video here.
 
Greg Hardwig of the Naples Daily News spoke with Cortney VanLiew and head coach Matt Botsford for a season preview. You can check it out here.
 
The ASUN's Kendrell Watkins recently sat down with Cortney VanLiew, Dana Axner and Chelsey Lockey as part of the latest episode of The Lunch Box. Check it out here.
 
LOOKING AHEAD FGCU is slated to open its home portion of the schedule next weekend (Feb. 26-27) against Jacksonville. Friday night's match will start at 7 p.m. before concluding at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
 
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 146-51 (.741) record overall, including a 72-18 (.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--