JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A slew of big individual performances led the FGCU volleyball team (11-2, 9-2 ASUN) to a 20-25, 25-20, 25-18, 20-25, 15-9 win over Jacksonville (3-12, 1-10) on the road inside Swisher Gym on Friday night.
 
The victory, coupled with Stetson's win over North Florida, allows the Eagles to clinch the ASUN's South Division crown and the No. 1 seed in the division ahead of next weekend's quarterfinal round. FGCU will conclude the regular season on Saturday at 7 p.m. with the second of a two-match series at Jacksonville.
 
"I was happy with the team's resolve after a couple tough sets," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "I thought Erin and Cortney got better as the match went on and we needed that spark. Overall, I liked how we competed tonight, especially in the fifth, but our players know that our execution level needs to be higher."
 
Erin Shomaker (21 kills, 14 digs, 5 aces, 3 blocks) and Cortney VanLiew (20 kills, 15 digs, 3 blocks) led FGCU offensively, while Emma Szypszak and Juliana Lentz each added six kills. Chelsey Lockey finished just two assists shy of matching a career-high while totaling 53 along with 11 digs, four blocks, four kills and two aces. It was her third 50-assist match of the season, including her second straight. Dana Axner tallied a match-high 16 digs along with four assists, while Alayna Ryan (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS) chipped in six digs.
 
Lentz (Miami, Fla./St. Brendan HS) and Kortney Reynolds each contributed six block assists as the Eagles racked up a season-high 25 blocks as a team. Reynolds (Plain City, Ohio/Jonathan Alder HS) also had a solo block.
 
The Dolphins took the opening set behind a late 5-0 run and led 8-5 in the second before FGCU reeled off seven straight. Jacksonville managed to pull within one at 20-19, but Szypszak (Mequon, Wis./Homestead HS) responded with a kill to spark a 4-0 run that helped even the match.
 
In the third set, three consecutive aces from Shomaker (Granville, Ohio/Granville HS) sparked a 7-0 run that gave the Eagles control early. The sophomore outside hitter then gave FGCU a 2-1 lead in the match with a kill off an assist from Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS).
 
Jacksonville opened the fourth set on a 9-5 spurt and the Eagles couldn't get any closer than two the rest of the way as the match went the full distance.
 
The Green and Blue scored four of the first five points of the fifth before back-to-back kills from Shomaker and VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) spurred a 6-0 run that gave FGCU a 10-2 lead. The Dolphins pulled within four late, but Szypszak responded with a kill before a Jacksonville attack error sailed out of bounds to end the match.
 
South Division

Place	Team	ASUN	Overall
1.	FGCU	9-2	11-2
2.	North Florida	7-4	8-9
3.	Stetson	5-6	6-6
4.	Jacksonville	1-10	3-12

North Division

Place	Team	Overall	ASUN
1.	Lipscomb	10-1	13-2
2.	Kennesaw State	10-2	10-2
3.	Liberty	4-7	4-8
4.	Bellarmine	3-8	4-11
5.	North Alabama	1-10	1-12

 
Friday, March 19
Liberty 3, North Alabama 0
Lipscomb 3, Bellarmine 1
FGCU 3, Jacksonville 2
Stetson 3, North Florida 2
 
Saturday, March 20
North Alabama at Liberty, 4 p.m.
Lipscomb at Bellarmine, 7 p.m.
FGCU at Jacksonville, 7 p.m.
Stetson at North Florida, 7 p.m.

Notes
FGCU is 23-11 all-time against Jacksonville with eight straight wins in the series.
 
Shomaker's 14 digs tied a career high. The reigning ASUN player of the week has six double-doubles this year, including three in the past four matches. VanLiew and Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) also each racked up their third double-double in the past four matches.
 
Axner eclipsed 1,400 career digs on Friday, while VanLiew inched closer to passing Karissa Rhoades for seventh-most in a career during the program's Division I era.
  
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.	1,411	Dana Axner (271 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.	869	Cortney VanLiew (374 sets)	2017-present
9.	823	Maggie Rick (467 sets)	2015-18
10.	681	Vanessa Benks (164 sets)	2013-15

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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 152-52 (.744) record overall, including a 78-19 (.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.
 
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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 85 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.
 
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