ORLANDO, Fla. – Despite a career-best 16 kill performance from Lauren Clark (Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park HS/Penn State), the FGCU volleyball team fell 3-0 (20-25, 19-25, 16-25) to Florida State on Saturday evening to close out the UCF Invitational. The Eagles fall to 7-2 on the year, while the Seminoles improved to 6-2 overall.
 
"Tough night and very reminiscent of the UCF match relative to our first touch. I thought we were defending and blocking at a high enough level, but the side out phase was dictated by our inability to pass consistently," said head coach Matt Botsford. "The good thing is that we know we can execute that skill at a much higher level, as we did vs Georgia, but we must work hard over the coming days and weeks to clean that up."
 
The Green and Blue hit just .133 for the match and had 23 errors compared to FSU hitting .238 while committing 12 attack errors. The Noles also held a 9-to-1 advantage in service aces.
 
Clark finished the night hitting .379 to lead the Eagles. Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio/Granville HS) added six kills, while Juliana Lentz (Miami, Fla./St. Brendan HS) and Skylar English (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) each had five. Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) had 33 assists and eight digs, while Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) led all players with 19 digs.
 
FSU was led by 12 kills from Emma Clothier who also had a team-high four blocks. Morgan Chacon and Audrey Koenig both had seven kills with Chacon adding nine digs.
 
Set one saw both teams trade runs and points early with a kill by Shomaker tying the game at 7-7. The Noles responded with five straight points to go up 12-7 and were eventually able to extend to as much as a seven point lead, 21-14. A kill from Clark and two FSU errors pulled FGCU back within four, 21-17, but the Eagles were unable to get any closer as the Seminoles took a 25-20 win.
 
The second set also saw both teams battling and trading points through much of it. A kill from English followed by an ace by Lockey tied the set at 18-18. FSU responded with a six-point run to take control. A kill by Aja Jones (Venice, Fla./Venice HS) pulled the Eagles back within five, but the Noles won the set on the ensuing service.
 
A three point streak in the third set ultimately proved the difference maker as the teams played evenly to start once again. FSU had a kill by Koenig followed by two FGCU errors to get an 11-8 cushion. The Eagles were able to get a point back, but FSU added three more consecutive points to extend its lead to 16-11. After back-to-back kills by Lentz and English, a five-point FSU run ultimately decided the match as the Seminoles were able to hold off the Eagles for a 25-16 win.
 
Cortney VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) finished the day with one kill and needs just five more to surpass Amanda Carroll (1483, 2015-19) for the program's all-time lead. She is also on the verge of joining Brooke Youngquist Sweat as the only players to post 1,000-plus kills and 1,000 plus digs.
 
Most Career Kills

1.	1,483	Amanda Carroll (.259)	2015-19
2.	1,478	Cortney VanLiew (.232)	2017-present
3.	1,173	Brooke Youngquist Sweat	2004-07
4.	1,132	Olivia Mesner	2011-14
5.	961	Jessica Barnes (.194)	2010-14

 
Most Career Digs 

1.	1,965	Whitney Hendry (390 sets)	2004-07
2.	1,687	Whitney Masters (483 sets)	2011-14
3.	1,652	Holly Youngquist (418 sets)	2008-11
4.	1,621	Dana Axner (313 sets)	2018-present
5.	1,369	Brook Youngquist Sweat (346 sets)	2004-07

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COACH BOTSFORD
Matt Botsford is entering his eighth season as head coach of the FGCU women's volleyball program in 2021 after being hired on Feb. 10, 2014. In his tenure, Botsford-led teams have compiled a 164-55 (.748) record overall, including an 81-19 (.810) record in ASUN play. Including this past year's unprecedented spring season, 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 of the past six seasons and at least 10 wins in conference play every season. 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 three straight regular season titles, including a division title and ASUN tournament runner-up finish in the spring 2021 season. 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. In 2018, 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 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 42 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 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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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