BOCA RATON, Fla. – Cortney VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) had a season-high 10 kills to become the program's all-time career leader and Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio/Granville HS) posted a season-high 17 kills, but neither were enough as the FGCU volleyball team fell to UCF, 3-0 (19-25, 22-25, 23-25), on Thursday night at the Sunshine State Classic hosted by FAU. The Eagles fall to 7-3 on the year, while the Knights improved to 6-5 having won four of their last five matches.
 
"Cortney has played such a big part in the growth of this program during her time as an Eagle and I could not be happier for her to set a record like this," said head coach Matt Botsford. "She truly bleeds Green and Blue and is such a wonderful ambassador for this program and the University. What she has been able to accomplish in breaking Amanda's record is truly remarkable."
 
VanLiew's 10 kills gave her 1,488 for her career which pushed her past fellow FGCU Hall of Famer Amanda Carroll who had 1,483 from 2015-19. The fifth-year senior also notched nine digs in the match giving her 970 for her career in her bid to become the third member of the 1,000 kill/1,000 dig club alongside Carroll and Olympian Brooke Youngquist Sweat (2004-07).
 
"There were a lot of positives from tonight's match although I'm disappointed with our execution at the end of sets. Our first contact was much more consistent tonight in comparison to the last time we played UCF," said Botsford. "I also thought our players did a great job from the service line. Right now we just have to keep working toward more consistency throughout the entirety of sets. Erin (Shomaker) was absolutely phenomenal tonight as a passer and attacker. That was a heck of a bounce back from her and she showed why she is one of the top players in the nation."

Shomaker finished the night with a match-high 17 kills on a .387 hitting percentage, while she added three digs and two kills. Aja Jones (Venice, Fla./Venice HS) also posted seven kills which tied her season-high which she previously set against Georgia.
 
Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) finished the night with 34 assists, while Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) paced the defense with 18 digs. For Axner, she now has 1,639 digs which puts her 14 away from passing Holly Youngquist (1,652, 2008-11) for third all-time in program history.
 
UCF had a trio of players with double-figure kills paced by 14 from McKenna Melville while Claudia Dillon and Heidi Bonde had 10 each. Amber Olson directed the offense with 31 assists.
 
Overall, the Knights hit .413 as a team, while the Eagles had a .232 attack percentage. FGCU held a 6-to-2 advantage in aces, however, UCF had a 9-to-4 edge in blocks.
 
In the first match, the Eagles built out a 13-10 lead before UCF scored five straight for a two-point advantage. FGCU the re-took the lead, 16-15, after a pair of kills by Shomaker and a service ace. The Eagles managed to extend the lead to two before UCF rallied for six straight en route to a 22-18 advantage. A kill from Lauren Clark (Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park HS/Penn State) stopped the run briefly before the Knights scored the final three points for the 25-19 win.
 
In set two, the Eagles were able to erase an early deficit to tie the match late at 19-19. Both sides traded the next four points to make things 21-21 before UCF scored four of the next five to take a 2-0 lead.
 
FGCU built out an early three point lead, 9-6, in set three, but a three-point run gave UCF a 13-11 point advantage midway through. The Eagles were able to reclaim the lead in a back-and-forth spurt before going up 20-17 after two UCF errors and a Shomaker kill. The Knights responded by claiming the next five points to go up two, 22-20. Both teams traded two-point swings with UCF going up 24-22 before another Shomaker kill made the score 24-23. Melville broke a FGCU serve with a kill for the match win giving the final 25-23 score of the set.
 
The Eagles will look to bounce back on Friday starting at 1:30 PM when they take on Miami. FGCU will then play a 7 PM match against host Florida Atlantic to conclude the tournament. Earlier on Thursday, UCF handed Miami its first loss of the year in five sets. The Hurricanes then bounced back with a three-set win over FAU.

Most Career Kills

1.	1,488	Cortney VanLiew (.230)	2017-present
1.	1,483	Amanda Carroll (.259)	2015-19
3.	1,173	Brooke Youngquist Sweat (.245)	2004-07
4.	1,132	Olivia Mesner (.331)	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.	1,639	Dana Axner (316 sets)	2018-present
5.	1,369	Brook Youngquist Sweat (346 sets)	2004-07

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 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 164-56 (.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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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 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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