FORT MYERS, Fla. --- Chelsey Lockey's all-around performance highlighted the FGCU volleyball team's 25-18, 25-12, 25-22 win over Stetson inside Alico Arena on Friday. With the victory, the Eagles (9-2, 7-2 ASUN) remained one game up in first place in the ASUN standings.
 
Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) led all players with 35 assists while adding a season-high 12 digs, five blocks, two aces and a pair of kills. It was her 19th consecutive match with at least 30 assists and her fourth double-double of the season.
 
"What we were trying to focus on leading into this was playing the kind of defense we have grown accustomed to - both blocking and court defense," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "We were a little frustrated in that first set because I don't think we executed on that side of the ball. The next two sets were outstanding defensively. We were blocking the ball extremely well, playing in an organized fashion on the defensive end and that opened things up."
 
With the opening set tied at 15 apiece, the Eagles closed on a 10-3 run to claim the early lead in the match. Kortney Reynolds concluded the set by tapping home an overpass for a kill to finish off a 4-0 run. FGCU then scored seven of the first 10 in the next set, highlighted by a trio of kills from Erin Shomaker. Later, an 11-2 run by the Green and Blue, which included the final six points of the set, pushed it to a two-set advantage. A back-and-forth final set was finished off with a kill from Emma Szypszak after Stetson pulled within one late.
 
At the net defensively, Aja Jones led all players with seven blocks, while Lockey finished second as the duo totaled 12 of FGCU's 14 blocks. Dana Axner had a match-high 13 digs to lead the Eagles, while Shomaker and Alayna Ryan each added seven.
 
On the offensive end, Shomaker (Granville, Ohio/Granville HS) had another solid performance with a match-high 16 kills at a .316 clip along with two aces and a block. It was her seventh straight outing with at least 10 kills, and she stretched her streak of at least one ace to five in a row.
 
Cortney VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) finished second on the team in kills with 10 while hitting .308. She contributed five digs, one ace and one assist. Meanwhile, Szypszak (Mequon, Wis./Homestead HS) (7 kills, .313) and Reynolds (Plain City, Ohio/Jonathan Alder HS) (5 kills, .300) each hit at least .300 with 10-plus attempts apiece.
 
Jones (Venice, Fla./Venice HS) chipped in five kills, while Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) added five assists.
 
The Eagles have now won two straight matches headed into Saturday night's regular season home finale at 7 p.m. against Stetson inside Alico Arena. Prior to the match, the team will honor Ryan (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS) for her contributions to the program.
 
ASUN ROUNDUP
 
South Division

Place	Team	ASUN	Overall
1.	FGCU	7-2	9-2
2.	North Florida	6-3	7-8
3.	Stetson	4-4	5-4
4.	Jacksonville	0-8	2-10

North Division

Place	Team	ASUN	Overall
1.	Kennesaw State	10-1	10-1
2.	Lipscomb	8-1	11-2
3.	Bellarmine	3-6	4-9
4.	Liberty	2-7	2-8
5.	North Alabama	1-9	1-11

 
Friday, March 12
FGCU 3, Stetson 0
Bellarmine 3, Liberty 1
North Florida 3, Jacksonville 1
Lipscomb 3, Kennesaw State 0
 
Saturday, March 13
Liberty at Bellarmine, 5 p.m.
Stetson at FGCU, 7 p.m.
Jacksonville at North Florida, 7 p.m.
Kennesaw State at Lipscomb, 7 p.m.
 
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 150-52 (.741) record overall, including a 76-19 (.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 84 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--