FORT MYERS, Fla. --- The FGCU volleyball team (13-2) hit .460 as a team for the fifth-best single-match percentage in the program's history en route to a 25-16, 25-9, 25-9 win over Jacksonville (3-14) in an ASUN quarterfinal matchup on Friday night inside Alico Arena.
 
In doing so, the Eagles advance to Friday's 7 p.m. semifinal against Kennesaw State, where they will be looking for the program's fifth-straight championship game appearance. The semifinals and final will be held at the KSU Convocation Center in Kennesaw, Ga.
 
Leading Saturday's offensive attack was the duo of Cortney VanLiew and Erin Shomaker, who each tallied a match-high 14 kills. VanLiew fell just one dig shy of a double-double while hitting .407 with three assists and two aces. Shomaker (Granville, Ohio/Granville HS) hit .609 with eight digs.

"I thought, from the start through the finish, that was as clean of a match that we have put together from each position," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "It was spectacular. From set one to set three, from the offensive and defensive end, it actually kept getting better. You typically see some ebb and flow to a match like this, but it wasn't. We put the pedal down right from the start, and I was really happy."
 
Outside of those two, four others each tallied at least three kills while hitting above .350, led by Aja Jones (Venice, Fla./Venice HS), who hit .357 with seven kills and two blocks. Emma Szypszak (Mequon, Wis./Homestead HS) chipped in five kills, hit .375 and added a pair of blocks and digs. Juliana Lentz (Miami, Fla./St. Brendan HS) contributed three kills, hit. 429 and had a match-high four blocks.
 
Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) continued a fantastic junior campaign, compiling a match-high 39 assists along with six digs, four kills and two blocks. She has at least 30 assists in all 15 matches this year. Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) led all players with 12 digs, while Alayna Ryan (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS) and Shelby Beisner (Port Charlotte, Fla./Charlotte HS) contributed six and two, respectively.
 
With her nine digs, VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) now has 885 career digs, which moves her past Karissa Rhoades (877, 2015-18) and into sole possession of seventh place among the program's all-time leaders. She also pushed her career kill total to 1,417, which is 67 shy of eclipsing Amanda Carroll's all-time program record of 1,483 set from 2015-19.

FGCU is now 25-11 all-time against Jacksonville, including a 5-0 record this year and a 4-2 record all-time in the conference tournament. The Eagles have won 10 straight in the series overall.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
FGCU and Kennesaw State will meet in the postseason for the sixth consecutive season, with this year's victor advancing to Saturday's title game to face either Lipscomb or North Florida at 7 p.m. This will be the first time since 2016 the Eagles haven't met KSU in the championship game as the Green and Blue knocked the Owls off in the semifinals that year, while the two teams have split the past two conference tournament championships.

Quarterfinals Results
Lipscomb 3, Bellarmine 0
Kennesaw State 3, Liberty 0
FGCU 3, Jacksonville 0
North Florida 3, Stetson 0
 
Semifinals (Friday, April 2)
Lipscomb vs North Florida, 4 p.m.
Kennesaw State vs FGCU, 7 p.m.



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 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 156-52 (.749) record overall, including an 81-19 (.810) 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 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 40 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 23 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, and 2020 Fall 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--