FORT MYERS, Fla. - FGCU Volleyball hits the road to face Jacksonville State and Kennesaw State with major ASUN regular-season implications.

The Eagles enter the weekend slate almost mid-pack (6th) in the conference at 16-6 overall and 6-3 in the ASUN but sit just half a game back of fifth-place Jacksonville State (19-4, 7-3) and 1.5 games back of first-place Kennesaw State. Kennesaw State (15-5, 8-2 ASUN) shares the conference lead with Lipscomb and Liberty in a three-way tie for first.

Only the top eight clinch an automatic berth into the upcoming ASUN Tournament on Nov. 17-19. FGCU has seven ASUN matchups remaining before closing the page on the 2022 regular season, three road and four home contests.

FGCU is 2-0 all-time against Jacksonville State and 18-13 all-time against Kennesaw State. Last season, Kennesaw State upended the Eagles 3-1.

Friday's matchup at Jacksonville State is set for 7 p.m on ESPN+, while Saturday's battle against Kennesaw State is slated for a 5 p.m. start on YouTube.

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
The Eagles rank top 25 nationally in aces per set, coming in at No. 20 overall (1.87) this week. FGCU also statistically places top 50 in the nation in assists per set, hitting percentage, kills per set and in opponent hitting percentage. 

Head coach Matt Botsford's career winning percentage (.755%) ranks 15th among all active DI head coaches.

EAGLE LEADERS
Setter Chelsey Lockey's 10.82 assists per set clip the season ranks 20th nationally and second in the ASUN. The Eaton, Colorado native has posted a team-leading 844 assists on the year directing the Eagle offense, including 11 outings of 40-or-more. She also leads all Eagles from the service lines in aces (31).

Libero Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio) is 39th in the nation and fourth in the ASUN in digs per set (4.74). With 370 digs on the season, she ranks fourth overall in the conference.

Offensively, Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio) heads a three-winged attack for FGCU. Shomaker has tallied 301 kills this season, ranking second overall in the ASUN. Her kill per set mark of 3.91 places 55th nationally.

Lily Felts (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Lauren Clark (Champlin, Minn.) collectively fan out as the other two wings alongside Shomaker having emerged with over 165 kills apiece on the season. Felts has cracked the 200 kill threshold with 219.

Up at the net, Juliana Lentz (Miami, Fla.) leads all Eagles in blocks with 45.

LAST TIME OUT
FGCU suffered a 3-1 setback loss to Liberty (24-26, 25-12, 22-25, 24-26) in a top-five ASUN showdown last Saturday. The loss snapped FGCU's 22 consecutive home match win streak. Entering the day, the Eagles held the longest active home match win streak in the nation.

The Eagles were half a block shy of tying a season high effort of 14. The Green and Blue outdueled the Flames up the net in total blocks, 14-10, but Liberty outshined FGCU in total kills (58-47), digs (58-53) and assists (54-45). Lentz led the Eagle block party with a season high of seven.

Felts and Clark reached double figures in kills, 14 and 12 respectively. Felts posted her second double-double effort of the season, adding 11 digs.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Kennesaw State's Claire Parsons leads the conference in blocks per set, averaging 1.16, while McKinley Ferguson leads the ASUN in aces per set (0.48). Ferguson also places fourth in the conference in assists per set (10.45), just below FGCU's own Chelsey Lockey. As a team, Kennesaw State paces the ASUN in kills per set, aces per set and in points per set.

The Owls enter the weekend with a RPI of 45 despite dropping a five-set battle to North Florida last Saturday, snapping a six-game win streak. Kennesaw State is a perfect 9-0 at home this season.

Jacksonville State's Lena Kindermann is third in the conference in total kills (296) and fourth in the ASUN in kills per set (3.52). Claire Ochs currently ranks third in the league in assists per set (10.52). As a squad, the Gamecocks boast the best hitting percentage (.282%) among all ASUN members.

The Gamecocks are 9-2 at home this season and have registered 11 sweeps. Jacksonville State has also posted two Power Five wins this year against Indiana and Clemson.

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 200-65 (.758) record overall, including a 102-23 (.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.