FORT MYERS, Fla. - FGCU Volleyball prepares for a midweek conference showdown at Stetson on Wednesday.

Wednesday's contest is one of two rescheduled matches with Stetson that were postponed the week of hurricane Ian. First serve between the Eagles and the Hatters is set for 6 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.

FGCU makes the trip north coming off a 1-1 showing in ASUN action this past weekend. Last Friday, FGCU suffered a five-set loss to Central Arkansas, but rebounded on Sunday with a 3-0 sweep of North Alabama to lift head coach Matt Botsford to his 100th career ASUN victory.

Nearing the midway point of the ASUN slate, the Green and Blue is sixth in the conference standings at 14-5 overall and 4-2 in league play. Stetson sits just below the Eagles in seventh place at 12-6 and 3-3 in the ASUN. Kennesaw State is first overall at 14-4 and 7-1.

FGCU holds a 29-2 all-time record against the Hatters, currently holding a current 19-match win streak.

This season, Stetson has emerged as one of the best net blocking teams in the ASUN. At 59 solo blocks, the Hatters rank second overall in the conference. The trio of Alexis Thompson, Sophia Groom and Leilani Vitale have each recorded 40-or-more blocks on the year for the Hatters.

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE EAGLES

FGCU is top three in the ASUN in assists per set, aces per set, kills per set and in hitting percentage. Nationally, FGCU is top 25 in aces per set (1.88), coming in at No. 22.

The Eagles will challenge Stetson's blocking statistic with a dynamic trio of their own with the offensive firepower courtesy of Erin Shomaker, Lily Felts and Lauren Clark.

Shomaker (Granville, Ohio) has recorded a team-leading 280 kills on the year, ranking second in the ASUN and 50th nationally. Her 4.12 kills per set also ranks second in the conference, 33rd nationally.

Shomaker is six kills away from moving into third all-time in program history for career kills (1,168).

Flanking Shomaker, Felts and Clark has provided the extra offensive spark and over 150 kills on the year. Felts (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored a career-best 25 kills last weekend against Central Arkansas. Clark (Champlin, Minn.) has posted double-figure kills in eight matches this season.

Setter Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo.) continues to bolster her connections in the Eagles offense, tallying 724 assists on the season. Lockey's 10.65 assists per set places her second in the conference and 23rd in the country. Lockey's career assist mark of 4,208 moves her into eighth all-time in the ASUN. 

In Eagle lore, Lockey is 201 assists away from moving into second all-time in career assists at FGCU. This season, the do-it-all setter also leads the Eagles in aces (26) and is second in total blocks (34).

Libero Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio) is also soaring up the ASUN record book. Axner is 190 digs away from becoming the all-time digs leader in ASUN history. In 2022, she ranks seventh in the conference in total digs with 309.

EAGLES ON THE RISE

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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 198-64 (.756) record overall, including a 100-22 (.820) 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.