KENNESAW, Ga. - FGCU Volleyball took down first-place Kennesaw State 3-1 (17-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-16) on the road Saturday.

FGCU improved to 18-6 and 7-3 in the ASUN, moving into fourth place in the conference standings. Kennesaw State fell to 16-6 and 9-3, third overall. Not only did the Green and Blue knock Kennesaw State off the top perch, the Eagles snapped the Owl's 15-match home win streak.

Liberty (16-7, 9-2 ASUN) and Lipscomb (12-10, 9-2 ASUN) moved into a two-way tie for first in the ASUN. Liberty and Lipscomb will battle tomorrow at 1 p.m. for sole lead of the regular-season conference race. FGCU defeated Lipscomb (3-1) earlier this season but was upended by Liberty (1-3).

"Great win against a quality team," head coach Matt Botsford said. "I continue to be impressed with our teams' ability to stay composed when things aren't flowing the way we would like. KSU did a nice job affecting the flow of our offense but as the match went on, our pins still found some creative ways to score. We have a lot to clean up in overall execution, but in terms of our effort and focus, we are in a good place."

FGCU pieced together another come-from-behind win this weekend. The Eagles dropped the opening set 25-17 in sluggish fashion, never tying or taking the lead.

In the second, FGCU flipped the script and responded with a 25-21 set win to tie the match 1-1, never surrendering the lead themselves.

The Eagles mostly trailed during a pivotal third set but grinded out a 25-22 victory to flip the momentum. The Owls led 15-9 and 19-15 at one point in set three. The Eagles capped the third on a 10-2 run to secure the match lead, 2-1.

The Green and Blue eliminated any Kennesaw State hopes of extending the match to a fifth set by not surrendering the lead once again (25-16) in the fourth, clinching the match with three straight victories.

Kennesaw State matched FGCU in total blocks with eight and held a higher combined attacking percentage on the night. The match also finished almost even in total kills (FGCU 49-48) and aces (Kennesaw State 8-7). However, FGCU held a significant edge over the Owls in total digs, 67-58.

Four Eagles reached double-figures in digs, Dana Axner (18), Chelsey Lockey (14), Erin Shomaker (11) and Lily Felts (10). Three Eagles also reached double-figure kills, Shomaker (15), Felts (13) and Lauren Clark (11).

Shomaker (Granville, Ohio) and Felts (Knoxville, Tenn.) along with Lockey (Eaton, Colo.) would post double-double efforts on Saturday as Lockey tallied 43 assists. Lockey moved into second all-time in career assists at FGCU (4,419). Lockey trails Maggie Rick (2015-18) by 122 assists for the all-time lead in career assists. 

Emma Szypszak (Mequon, Wis.) recorded a team-leading five blocks up at the net.

FGCU returns to Alico Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 1 to battle Stetson (13-10, 4-7 ASUN) at 6 p.m. Tuesday's match is GameDay App Night and a Blue Out. Download and interact with the FGCU GameDay App to win prizes throughout the night.

EAGLES ON THE RISE

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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 202-65 (.756) record overall, including a 104-23 (.817) 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.