FORT MYERS, Fla. --- After getting swept on Saturday and falling into a tie for first place in the ASUN South Division standings, the FGCU volleyball team (8-2, 6-2 ASUN) dropped the first set to North Florida on Sunday. They didn't panic, though, and behind the offensive prowess of Erin Shomaker, the Eagles responded by winning three straight sets to knock off the Ospreys and regain sole possession of the division with four matches remaining.
 
"That was outstanding," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "Unfortunately, we went through this at UNF. They're a team that is playing at a good level right now and has found ways to pressure us. Last night, we couldn't manage it. I just love the resilience the team has shown after we've been able to really dissect what's happening out there and ways we can correct it. It was a real collaborative effort throughout the match tonight. The players were talking both to each other and to us trying to figure ways we could find some matchups and opportunities. It was really outstanding the way they came back."
 
Shomaker (Granville, Ohio/Granville HS) exploded for career-highs in both kills (22) and digs (14). It was her second match with 20-plus kills on the season against the Ospreys as she had 21 against them on Feb. 14. The sophomore outside hitter has racked up eight double-digit kill performances this year after tallying six as a rookie. Sunday also represented her fifth double-double of the season.
 
Cortney VanLiew finished second on the team in kills (11) and earned her third double-double of the season behind a season-high 12 digs. Meanwhile, Juliana Lentz racked up a season-high nine kills at a .563 clip along with four blocks and two digs. Emma Szypszak had perhaps her best match of the season with seven kills (two shy of her season-high), a season-high seven blocks and two digs.
 
In the opening set, North Florida grabbed a lead early and held on, stretching the margin to six a couple times late. Early in the second set, Chelsey Lockey was credited with a kill on a diving save where the ball just clipped the top of the net and went over for the point. The play seemed to spark some momentum for FGCU as it spurred a 5-1 run. A short time later, an 8-1 run was capped by back-to-back kills from Lentz (Miami, Fla./St. Brendan HS) and Shomaker as the Eagles eventually cruised to a 25-17 win.
 
The momentum continued into the third set as FGCU scored the first five and eight of nine to open the set. A kill from VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) pushed the margin to nine midway through the set and, despite back-and-forth action late, FGCU took the match lead with a 25-17 win.
 
The Ospreys took a 5-3 lead early in the fourth, but FGCU responded with four straight. North Florida wouldn't go away, reeling off five straight a short time later for a 12-9 lead. Down two a short time later, the Eagles scored six in a row, highlighted by a pair of kills from Shomaker, to claim a 17-13 lead and they never trailed again. Two more kills from VanLiew pushed the margin to six before a block from Lentz and Szypszak (Mequon, Wis./Homestead HS) clinched the match.
 
Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) led all players in assists with 49 while adding a season-high 11 digs and four kills. Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) led the Eagles in digs with 17 while adding three assists, and Alayna Ryan (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS) registered a season-high nine digs.
 
Aja Jones (Venice, Fla./Venice HS) finished with five blocks, five kills and two digs. She has at least five kills in eight of nine matches played this year, including three with at least five kills and five blocks.
 
The Eagles will be back in action Friday and Saturday at home against Stetson beginning at 7 p.m. each day.
 
South Division

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

 
North Division

Place	Team	ASUN	Overall
1.	Kennesaw State	10-0	10-0
2.	Lipscomb	7-1	10-2
3.	Liberty	2-6	2-7
4.	Bellarmine	2-6	3-9
5.	North Alabama	1-9	1-10

 
Sunday, March 7
FGCU 3, North Florida 1
Bellarmine 3, North Alabama 1
 
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 149-52 (.741) record overall, including a 75-19 (.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--