KENNESAW, Ga. --- The FGCU volleyball team (14-2) is headed to the ASUN championship game for the fifth consecutive season after the Eagles knocked off Kennesaw State (11-3) 25-15, 25-18, 25-22 in the semifinals on Friday night inside the KSU Convocation Center. It was the first time the Green and Blue swept the Owls in any match since 2014.
 
"That was a great performance by the whole team," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "We started off really strong at the net and from the service line, which helped out a lot. Alayna and Shelby were outstanding at making an impact with their opportunities. Aja really spearheaded the frontline defense, and I thought the jobs she and Juliana did opened up a lot on the offensive end for our lefts."
 
The Green and Blue will face Lipscomb (16-2) on Saturday night at 7 p.m. for the title. The match will air live on ESPN+. It will be the third all-time meeting between the two programs in the championship and the first since 2016.
 
FGCU was led offensively by Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio/Granville HS), who produced match-high totals in kills (17) and digs (11) while hitting .394 and adding a pair of blocks along with an ace. Cortney VanLiew (8) and Juliana Lentz (6) each contributed in kills while VanLiew added six digs and three blocks. Aja Jones (Venice, Fla./Venice HS), who chipped in three kills, led all players with nine blocks.
 
Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) registered a match-high 29 assists along with nine digs and three blocks. It was the first time all season she didn't reach 30 in a match. Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) finished third on the team with seven digs along with her five assists, while Alayna Ryan (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS) added four digs.
 
The Eagles hit .294 as a team and held Kennesaw State to a .115 performance as they exacted a bit of revenge for a championship match loss to the Owls last season.
 
Friday night's matchup was the sixth consecutive season in which FGCU and Kennesaw State met in the ASUN tournament with the season on the line, and they are now 3-3 against each other in those outings. The Eagles are also 17-12 all-time against the Owls.

The Green and Blue, winners of seven straight overall, is now 13-9 all-time in the ASUN tournament dating back to the program's first appearance in 2009. This will be FGCU's sixth all-time championship game appearance.
 
With her offensive production, VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) surpassed Jacksonville's Mallory Mattingly (1,420, 2016-19) for the 10th-most career kills in ASUN history. The senior outside hitter now has 1,425.
 
Career Kills - ASUN History

1.	Megan Devine	ETSU	2010-13	1,940
2.	Carlyle Nusbaum	Lipscomb	2015-18	1,751
3.	Alex Kelly	Lipscomb	2007-10	1,746
4.	Lauren Ford	Lipscomb	2011-14	1,597
5.	Paige Pridgeon	North Florida	2009-12	1,593
6.	Maggie Johnson	Belmont	2008-11	1,558
7.	Lindsay Cleveland	Belmont	2002-05	1,552
8.	Jewell Dobson	Lipscomb	2011-15	1,525
9.	Amanda Carroll	FGCU	2015-19	1,483
10.	Cortney VanLiew	FGCU	2017-present	1,425

 
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 157-52 (.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--