FORT MYERS, Fla. - FGCU Volleyball returns to Alico Arena this Friday and Saturday to host Queens University of Charlotte and Liberty. Both home first serves are slated for a 6 p.m. start.

The Eagles hold the nation's longest active home match win streak at 21 consecutive home victories. Students, faculty and staff receive free admission with a valid Eagle I.D. Parking at Alico Arena is also free of charge.

Friday's matchup versus Queens is a Pink Out for American Cancer Society Night. Donations will be accepted for gift card raffles as proceeds directly go to the American Cancer Society. Saturday's battle versus Liberty will be Title IX/Women In Sports Night with a special guest appearance by former Eagle and Olympian Brooke Sweat.

FGCU enters the home weekend slate 15-5 and 5-2 in the ASUN. On Wednesday, the Eagles scored their ninth sweep of the season over Stetson.

Queens arrives in the City of Palms 6-15 overall and 1-7 in league play. Liberty on the other hand, is tied for second in the ASUN at 6-2 and 13-7 overall.

Friday will be the first-ever meeting between the Eagles and the Royals. Liberty and FGCU have history dating back to 2018, The Eagles are 7-1 all-time against the Flames, winning the last four meetings.

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT

FGCU is top 25 in aces per set this season, coming in at No. 17 overall at 1.89. The Eagles also place top 50 in hitting percentage (.254%), kills per set (13.54), assists per set (12.73) and in opponent hitting percentage (.173%). The Green and Blue leads the ASUN in service aces, service aces per set and in assists per set.

Ninth-year coach Matt Botsford is one win away from recording his 200th career win at FGCU. Botsford ranks 14th in the nation among all active DI coaches in career winning percentage at .757 percent.

FGCU LEADERS

Offensively, the Eagles are spearheaded by senior Erin Shomaker. Shomaker is third all-time in career kills at FGCU (1,168). On the season, she ranks second in the ASUN in total kills (287). The Granville, Ohio native also ranks 37th nationally in kills per set (4.04).

Fifth-year senior Lily Felts has emerged as another dynamic offensive weapon for the Green and Blue. On Wednesday, Felts fired a career-high 27 kills to break the FGCU 3-set match kill record and the attacking percentage record. The Knoxville native hit .756 on the night with only one error.

Felts' previous career high was 25 kills, which was set last at Central Arkansas last week. On the year, she has tallied the second most kills on the team behind Shoemaker with 193.

The do-it-all, fifth-year setter Chelsey Lockey directs the Green and Blue offense. Lockey has posted 40-or-more assists in nine matches this season and is third all-time in career assists as FGCU (4,246). The Eaton, Colorado native ranks 18th nationally in assists per set at 10.73 a clip.

Lockey also leads the Eagles in (26) aces and in blocks (37) this season. She is three blocks away from reaching the 200 career block threshold.

Libero and fifth-year senior Dana Axner continues to be a force in the back row with 334 digs toward the Eagle cause. Her 4.70 digs per set this season ranks fourth in the ASUN and 41st nationally. Anxer is 165 digs away from becoming the all-time career digs leader in the ASUN.

EAGLES ON THE RISE

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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 199-64 (.757) record overall, including a 101-22 (.821) 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.