CONWAY, Ark. - FGCU Volleyball almost pulled off the reverse sweep of ASUN foe Central Arkansas on Friday as the Sugar Bears downed the Eagles 3-2.

FGCU snapped a three-game win streak and dropped to 13-5 and 3-2 in the ASUN with the loss. UCA extended its current win streak out to six, improving to 13-7 overall and 5-2 in league play.

"Great match by the UCA players and staff," head coach Matt Botsford said. "They did an excellent job applying pressure all night. We had some nice individual performances tonight between Lily and Dana, but unfortunately that wasn't enough. I loved our fight in extending the match to a fifth set, but if this team wants to be at the top of this conference, it will require collective execution for longer stretches."

Both Lily Felts (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio) had a night to remember for the Eagles. Felts fired a career-best 25 kills to lead all Eagles, while Axner produced a season-high 33 digs.

FGCU forced just its second five-set battle of the season after falling behind 2-0. The Eagles secured a set-three (25-14) and a set-four (25-19) victory handily before running out of air space trying to go the distance in the fifth (9-15).

Central Arkansas set the tone by opening with 25-21 and 25-20 set wins. The Sugar Bears rallied to steal the second as the Green and Blue held a 11-6 advantage midway through. FGCU never held the lead in the opening set.

UCA effectively controlled the match from the service line and up at the net. The Sugar Bears outdueled the Eagles in aces 11-3 and 11-9 in total blocks. In the deciding fifth set, UCA produced three-straight aces to create a daunting 8-2 lead.

The Reigning ASUN Freshman of the Week (Caylan Koons) and ASUN Defensive Player of the Week (Alexis McDaniel) provided the spark for UCA. Koons had a double-double effort, 36 assists and 12 digs, and also led the Sugar Bears in aces with five. McDaniel cashed in on a team-leading 32 digs.

Defensively, FGCU held UCA to a combined .188 attacking percentage for the match. The Eagles themselves hit .255 percent as directed by Chelsey Lockey's (Eaton, Colo.) 44 assists.

Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio) offensively flanked Felts and added 14 kills to the Eagle cause. Emma Szypszak (Mequon, Wis.) tallied team-leading five blocks.

The Eagles eye to bounce back on Sunday at North Alabama to keep pace in the ASUN conference race. First serve against the Lions is set for 2 p.m. (ET). The match will air on ESPN+.

EAGLES ON THE RISE

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 finished 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 196-64 (.754) record overall, including a 99-22 (.818) 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 in six of the past seven 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. Now, the team has won four-straight regular season titles, including two ASUN Tournament Championship 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. In 2018, he also 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. In 2021, Botsford led the Eagles to 27 victories, tying the program record previously set in 2016, 2018 and 2019 seasons, and a NCAA First Round win over Texas Tech. The win over the Red Raiders marked the second NCAA First Round win for the Green and Blue following its 3-2 win over No. 13 UCF in Orlando in 2018.

#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 92 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 45 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn at at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four 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 26 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative 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.