FORT MYERS, Fla. - FGCU Volleyball preps for a quick midweek turnaround battle against Stetson on Tuesday.

The Eagles enter Tuesday's matchup 18-6 overall and 8-3 in the ASUN having defeated both Jacksonville State and first-place Kennesaw State this past weekend.

Stetson arrives to the City of Palms 13-10 overall and 4-7 in league play. FGCU currently sits fifth in the regular-season conference race, while the Hatters are ninth on the outside looking in at the upcoming ASUN Tournament as only the top eight teams advance to Nashville.

Stetson has lost its last two matchups. The Hatters suffered a 3-1 setback to Kennesaw State and were swept by Jacksonville State.

Tuesday's match is a rescheduled contest from the week of Hurricane Ian. The first serve is slated for a 6 p.m. start. Tuesday is also GameDay App Night and a Blue Out. Download and interact with the FGCU GameDay App to win prizes throughout the night.

Students, faculty and staff receive free admission with a valid Eagle I.D.

The Eagles have already faced the Hatters once this season. FGCU defeated Stetson 3-0 on the road back on October 19. The Eagles hold a 30-2 all-time record over the in-state foe, winning the last 20 meetings. In the 20-match win streak for the Eagles, FGCU has posted eight consecutive sweeps.

ASUN PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio) and Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colorado) earned ASUN weekly honors Monday for their stellar performances in the must-win road games at Jacksonville State and Kennesaw State. Shomaker was named the ASUN Player of the Week, and Lockey was named ASUN Setter of the Week. Shomaker's honors marked her third ASUN weekly accolade of the season, the second for Lockey.

Shomaker tied Cortney VanLiew with the most weekly conference awards to their names in program history with seven. Monday's announcement was the fourth of Lockey's career.

Shomaker is second in the ASUN in total kills (team-leading 333) on the year and 61st nationally in kills per set (3.87). For her career at FGCU, she is third all-time in career kills (1,221).

Lockey's 10.75 assists per set average this season ranks second overall in the ASUN. For her career, she is second all-time in career assists at FGCU (4,419) and is only 122 assists away from becoming the all-time leader.

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
FGCU continues to crack the top 25 in aces per set, coming in this week at No. 24 at 1.83. The Eagles also nationally rank in the top 50 in assists per set, hitting percentage and opponent hitting percentage.

Ninth-year head coach Matt Botsford ranks 15th among all active DI active coaches in career winning percentage (.757%) 

Lockey ranks 20th in the country in assists per set (10.75), the current highest individual ranking among any Eagle.

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 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.