FORT MYERS, Fla. --- The FGCU volleyball team (10-2, 8-2 ASUN) got several big performances, highlighted by a record performance from Chelsey Lockey, to push its winning streak to three with a 25-20, 25-22, 25-12 win over Stetson on Saturday night inside Alico Arena.
 
Lockey's (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) 50 assists broke the program's previous record for most in a three-set match that was previously held by Gigi Meyer, who had 47 vs Houston Baptist on Sept. 12, 2014.
 
"I was really please with first contact," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "That's been a big part of our focus over the past few weeks. You can see it in our side out efficiencies. It went from 65 to 82 to 91 percent in that last set, and that came from solid passing. I was really pleased with that. Defensively, I thought we were a little more stressed. I thought Stetson was better at their first contact. Defense was the story yesterday, offense tonight. We'll try to merge those two together moving forward."
 
Offensively, the Eagles hit a season-best .370 as a team in large part to the performances of three players. Erin Shomaker had a match-high 20 kills at a .474 clip, while Cortney VanLiew hit .351 with 17 kills. Kortney Reynolds (Plain City, Ohio/Jonathan Alder HS) added a season-high nine kills while hitting .533.
 
On the defensive side, Juliana Lentz (3) and Reynolds (2) combined for five blocks while three others notched double-digit digs, led by a match-high 17 from Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS). Shomaker (Granville, Ohio/Granville HS) and VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) each completed double-doubles with 10 digs apiece.
 
Lockey and Alayna Ryan added seven and six digs, respectively.
 
Shomaker recorded her third match with at least 20 kills this year, including her second over the past three outings. It was also her fifth career double-double, while VanLiew had her fourth of the season and the 24th in her time in the Green and Blue overall.
 
With the victory, the Eagles remain one game ahead of North Florida (8-8, 7-3) in the ASUN South Division standings with two left. FGCU will conclude the regular season next weekend at Jacksonville (2-11, 0-9).
 
Prior to the match, the team honored Ryan (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS) as part of senior day. The team's other two seniors, VanLiew and Snowy Burnam (Palm City, Fla./Jensen Beach HS) plan on returning next year.
 
ASUN ROUNDUP
 
South Division

Place	Team	ASUN	Overall
1.	FGCU	8-2	10-2
2.	North Florida	7-3	8-8
3.	Stetson	4-5	5-5
4.	Jacksonville	0-9	2-11

North Division

Place	Team	ASUN	Overall
1.	Lipscomb	9-1	12-2
2.	Kennesaw State	10-2	10-2
3.	Bellarmine	3-7	4-10
	Liberty	3-7	3-8
5.	North Alabama	1-9	1-11

 
Saturday, March 13
Liberty 3, Bellarmine 0
FGCU 3, Stetson 0
North Florida 3, Jacksonville 2
Lipscomb 3, Kennesaw State 1
 
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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 151-52 (.744) record overall, including a 77-19 (.802) 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--