FORT MYERS, Fla. - Head coach Matt Botsford recorded his 200th career win at FGCU in a 3-0 sweep of Queens University of Charlotte on Friday.

FGCU improved to 16-5 and 6-2 in the ASUN for fourth place and half a game back of tying for second. Queens fell to 6-16 and 1-8 in the conference. Friday's matchup marked the first-ever meeting between the two programs as the Eagles extended the nation's longest active home match win streak out to 22 consecutive victories.

"Good overall effort by the team and excellent work from the service line," coach Botsford said. "I like the improvements we are making on the defensive end and we need to continue that trend as we prepare for a challenging stretch. I thought Chelsey did a great job distributing tonight, and I was really pleased with how she and Emma established the backside of the net. That continued with Oreva as well, and we are going to need that kind of threat as we continue."

Coach Botsford is the winningest coach in FGCU volleyball history and ranks 14th among all active DI head coaches in win percentage.

Friday's match was the first true home contest for FGCU since September 17, 34 days ago. FGCU never trailed as the Royals were no match for the experienced Eagles. Only two tied scores ensued throughout the course of the match, once in the second and once in the third, as the Green and Blue secured its tenth sweep of the season (25-12, 25-17, 25-11).

The Eagles orchestrated an 11-0 run in the opening set. In the third, FGCU clinched the match on a 8-0 run. Collectively, FGCU hit above .400 in both the first and third sets.

FGCU outpaced Queens by a wide margin in kills, 50-21. Lily Felts (Knoxville, Tenn.) led the Eagle offensive charge with 12 kills on the night. Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio) added eight and Emma Szypszak (Mequon, Wis.) posted six. Rylen Reid (Rolling Meadows, Ill.) earned her first start of her career, picking up two kills, an ace and a block assist.

Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colorado) posted her 10th outing of 40-or-more assists this season as the five-year conductor of the Eagle offensive attack.

Defensively, Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio) recorded her fourth straight effort of 20-plus digs. Claire Ertel (Indianapolis, Ind.) emerged with a season-high 14 digs on the night, also adding two aces to the Eagle cause.

FGCU will be back in action at Alico Arena tomorrow as the Eagles turn their focus toward Liberty (14-7, 7-2 ASUN). Saturday's first serve versus the second-place Flames is slated for a 6 p.m. start.

Saturday is also the Title IX/Women In Sports Night with a special guest appearance by former Eagle and Olympian Brooke Sweat. Students, faculty and staff get in free with a valid Eagle I.D.
 

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 200-64 (.758) record overall, including a 102-22 (.823) 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.