ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - FGCU Volleyball earned a 3-0 sweep (25-16, 27-25 and 25-21) over ASUN foe Austin Peay on Saturday.

FGCU improved to 13-4 overall and 3-1 in league play with its third-straight victory. Austin Peay dropped to 9-8 and 2-4 in the ASUN.

Saturday's match was no ordinary and easy sweep attempt. The Green and Blue came from behind to steal the second and third sets en route to its first ever-win over the Governors.

Facing set point, FGCU trailed 24-21 in the second only to win 27-25 behind a late 6-1 push. The Eagles also trailed 5-0 to begin the third set and later 17-14, eventually winning 25-21 to capture the seventh sweep of the season.

Ninth-year head coach Matt Botsford is now just one win away from 100 career ASUN wins.

"Nice to finish the weekend with a sweep, and I like that our players had to push through some adversity to make it happen," coach Botsford said. "We struggled in that first set from the service line, and as we entered sets two and three, I thought serving was what bailed us out of a couple jams. Lily's performance was really significant because of how many areas of the game she was positively affecting. From attacking, passing, defense, and serving, she provided a very steady presence tonight. Emma had a great weekend and continues to develop as a nice weapon for Chelsey. Claire also did an outstanding job in her rotations generating points for the team." 

At the service line, FGCU outpaced the Governors 11-3 in total aces. Claire Ertel (Indianapolis, Ind.) fired a team-leading three in the category.

Offensively, Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio) and Lily Felts (Knoxville, Tenn.) led the Green and Blue in kills. Shomaker recorded 18 on the day after her career-high and four set record-breaking performance (29 kills) Friday night, while Felts tied her season high of 13. Shomaker also moved into fourth all-time in career kills at FGCU (1,136).

Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo.) posted her eighth double-double effort of the season, 38 assists and 10 digs.

FGCU will now set its sights on a three-game road stretch starting at Central Arkansas (12-7, 4-2 ASUN) on Friday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m.

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 196-63 (.757) record overall, including a 99-21 (.825) 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.