NASHVILLE, Tenn. - FGCU Volleyball captured back-to-back ASUN Tournament Championships with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-15) sweep of top-seeded Liberty on Saturday.

FGCU punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history, 2018, 2021 and now 2022. The First and Second Round matches of the Big Dance are slated to begin December 1-2 or 2-3. The Green and Blue is no stranger to knocking off teams in the first round.

In 2018, FGCU defeated No. 13 UCF and in 2021, the Eagles took down Texas Tech to advance to the second round. The selections to the NCAA Tournament field will be announced on November 27.

Saturday's automatic qualifier of a victory improved the Eagles' resume to 26-6 overall, winners of 10 straight. Liberty ended its season 23-8. The Eagles' 17th sweep of the season marked the first clean sweep of an opponent in the ASUN title match since 2017.

"It was some pretty clean volleyball on our side of the net," head coach Matt Botsford said. "The way the girls have been playing the last few weeks, it it's not a surprise to see them executing at that level. We exceeded my own expectations from what we were able to do from the service line and our blocking. That moment for them losing to Liberty at home pushed some kind of button. They made the decision that they needed to be better. We started to see that change and picking up steam heading into tonight. This is as good of a team performance we have had in these ASUN Tournaments. We still have work to do and these girls believe that they get into the NCAA Tournament and have success."

FGCU came out firing early and recorded the first point of the night courtesy of a Lauren Clark (Champlin, Minn./Penn State) kill. The Eagles broke a 13-13 first-set tie with a 3-0 run to begin to separate themselves. The Green and Blue then capped the opening set on 5-0 run en route to its 25-18 victory, taking a crucial one-set lead.

Liberty found some momentum in the second, taking a 12-7 advantage. An ensuing 9-0 Eagles run flipped the script as FGCU then secured a 17-13 lead. The Flames pulled back within one 23-22, but FGCU effectively shut the door (25-22) to take a commanding 2-0 match lead.

The Green and Blue would not surrender the lead in the third, clinched the match 25-15, stormed the court and received the crown once again.

Six Eagles earned All-Tournament Team recognition. Clark, Dana Axner (Granville, Ohio), Lily Felts (Knoxville, Tenn./Tennessee), Juliana Lentz (Miami, Fla.), Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio) and Championship MVP Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo.) round out the tournament honors for FGCU.

FGCU avenged its lone home defeat to the Flames earlier this season by dominating in all facets of the match, especially from the service line and up at the net. The Eagles doubled the Flames blocking effort, 10-5, and outpaced Liberty in aces 9-4.

Entering the finals, FGCU ranked No. 15 in the nation in aces per set with a 1.88 clip.

With a team-leading 15 digs, Axner surpassed Shelley Walroth (Jacksonville: 2006-09) to become the ASUN's all time leader in career digs. Anxer also posted a team-leading three aces on the night.

Offensively, both outside hitters in Felts and Clark lead the Eagles in total kills with 10 apiece thanks to Lockey's 33 assists. Clark also added a team-leading seven blocks to extinguish the Flames and crown FGCU.

All-Tournament Team
Chelsey Lockey, FGCU - Championship MVP
Dana Axner, FGCU
Lauren Clark, FGCU
Lily Felts, FGCU
Juliana Lentz, FGCU
Erin Shomaker, FGCU
Delaney Dilfer, Liberty

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 210-65 (.764) record overall, including a 109-23 (.826) 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 seven of the past eight seasons (excluding COVID 2020) 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 three 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 (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/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 https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness. 

ABOUT FGCU 
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 94 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 46 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an 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 & 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 six 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.