NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Juliana Lentz (Miami, Fla./St. Brendan HS) posted 11 kills and a career-high nine blocks to lead the FGCU volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-22) win over Bellarmine at Allen Arena as part of the ASUN divisional cross-over weekend. The Eagles improve to 10-4 overall (2-0 ASUN), while the Knights fall to 4-9 (0-2 ASUN).
 
"Today was another excellent blocking effort by our team and, overall, I thought defensively we did a nice job," said head coach Matt Botsford. "There is still a lot to clean up in the other phases of the game, but I love the way our group is closing out sets and executing in endgame situations. Juliana put her stamp on this match offensively and both she and Aja did a nice job controlling the front line for us."
 
Lentz's efforts at the net reflected that team blocking effort as FGCU held an 11-to-1 advantage for the match. The Eagles hit .217 for the match, while Bellarmine was .026 with the Knights committing 26 errors.
 
The 11 kills for Lentz were the second-most in her career. She finished the day committing just one error to hit .625 overall. Her nine blocks tied as the fifth-most for a single three-set match in program history alongside five others including Aja Jones who did so against Kennesaw State (4/2/21).
 
Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio/Granville HS) had eight kills and 11 digs, while Cortney VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) added seven kills and eight digs. Jones tallied seven kills to round out the attack leaders. Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) directed the offense with 30 assists, while Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) posted 13 digs to move into second all-time at FGCU.
 
Axner now has 1,690 career digs which moved her past Whitney Masters who had 1,687 from 2011-14.
 
VanLiew now needs just nine more digs to become the third player in program history to have 1,000 career kills and digs. She now has 991 career digs to go with her program-record 1,504 career kills. Amanda Carroll and Brooke Youngquist Sweat are the only other two Eagles to accomplish the feat.
 
Bellarmine was led by 12 kills from Bailey Venard and five from Jayme Scott. Emily Arnold had 16 assists, while Anna Lococo had 15 digs.
 
In set one, FGCU jumped out to an early 7-1 lead. Bellarmine was able to pull within two towards the midway point of the match, but a five-point run by the Eagles re-extended the lead to 18-11. FGCU scored four of the final five points with Skylar English (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) converting the match point.
 
In set two, built out a 15-9 lead midway through and sustained the lead through. Three Bellarmine errors and a kill followed by an ace from VanLiew put the Eagles up 24-12. After the Knights scored the ensuing point, another Bellarmine error gave FGCU the win.
 
The third set proved much closer than the previous two with 11 ties and six lead changes. After Bellarmine took a 19-18 lead, FGCU scored three straight on a kill by VanLiew and a pair of errors by the Knights. Bellarmine then scored three straight to re-take a 22-21 lead, but FGCU rallied with a kill from Shomaker and three consecutive errors by the Knights to seal with the win.
 
FGCU will close out the weekend on Sunday at 1 PM (12 PM CT) against Eastern Kentucky at Allen Arena. The Colonels defeated Jacksonville on Friday before falling to Liberty on Saturday and are 4-11 overall (1-1 ASUN).

Most Career Kills

1.	1,504	Cortney VanLiew (.230)	2017-present
2.	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.	1,690	Dana Axner (328 sets)	2018-present
3.	1,687	Whitney Masters (483 sets)	2011-14
4.	1,652	Holly Youngquist (418 sets)	2008-11
5.	1,369	Brook Youngquist Sweat (346 sets)	2004-07

 
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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 167-56 (.751) record overall, including an 83-19 (.814) 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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