FORT MYERS, Fla. – FGCU volleyball's Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman HS) and Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) will head to Colorado Springs, Colo., this weekend, Feb. 25-27, to take part in the USA Volleyball Women's National Team Open Program held at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center.
 
"This is a wonderful opportunity for Dana and Chelsey and I'm so excited that they will get a chance to showcase their talents in an environment like this. Many of the top collegiate players in the country will be in attendance and the two of them fall right in that category," said head coach Matt Botsford. "The experience of competing at the Olympic Training Site under the guidance of the national team staff is something they will remember forever."  
 
The Women's National Team Open Program (WNTOP), formerly known as the Open Tryout, is a part of the selection process for the U.S Women's National Team, NCAA Elite Athlete List, and 2022 Collegiate National Team.
 
Led by U.S. Women's Head Coach Karch Kiraly, the Women's National Team staff and volleyball coaches from around the country, athletes will participate in skill-specific activities and match play throughout the Open Program.
 
Fans can watch the WNTOP online on Baller.TV.
 
Players from colleges and universities around the country are registered for the three-day event. The Open Program was made available to current and recently graduated, college-age athletes born in the years 1997-2003 inclusive. Athletes born outside of this age group had to get special permission to attend.
 
Axner and Lockey are two of the top returning players for FGCU and in the ASUN. Both were key players in FGCU's terrific 2021 season which saw the Eagles (27-6) reach the NCAA Round of 32 following a win over Texas Tech before falling to eventual national champion Wisconsin. The duo have helped the Green and Blue win a pair of league championship titles (2018, 2021) with NCAA Tournament Second Round appearances each time.

Axner finished the season with 490 digs which moved her into second all-time at FGCU for a career with 1,958. She now ranks third all-time in ASUN history with that total while her 5.0 digs per set ranks third all-time in FGCU history and fifth in the ASUN. She ranks 15^th among active NCAA players for career digs as well. She earned All-ASUN First Team honors and was a member of the ASUN All-Academic Team. For her career, Axner has been a member of the 2020 ASUN All-Decade Team and a two-time ASUN Defensive Player of the Year (2018, 2019). She has also been honored all four years of her career as an All-ASUN player earning first team honors in 2018, 2019, and 2021 while picking up second team honors in 2020. That makes her just the second player in FGCU history, alongside Maggie Rick, to accomplish that feat.
 
Lockey earned All-ASUN First Team honors this past fall after being the 2020 ASUN Setter of the Year. She was also named to the first team during the 2020 campaign and was a second-team pick in 2019. As the top setter for FGCU at 1,118 assists this fall, she ranked second in the ASUN for total assists and assists per set (10.35). Lockey ranked 48th nationally in assists per set and 51st for total assists. She posted a season-high 54 in five-set road win at North Florida and had six matches with 40-or-more assists including 45 against Georgia, 48 in the home match-up against North Florida, and 44 against Stetson (3 sets). Under her direction, FGCU ranked 2nd in the ASUN in kills per set (13.79), while the offense ranks 24th nationally in hitting percentage (.265). She also helped the net defense with 72 total blocks - the fourth-most on the team. For her career, has 3,484 assists which are the third-most in program history and the 13th most in ASUN history.
 
The 2022 U.S. Women's Collegiate National Team (WCNT) will train on June 19-25 in Anaheim, Calif., alongside U.S. Women's National Team athletes and staff. This immersive training experience will help accelerate the development of top collegiate athletes and give athletes an inside look at the culture and training of Olympic gold medalists.

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.
 
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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 184-59 (.757) record overall, including a 96-20 (.827) 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 overall 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 and now the team has won three straight regular season titles, including a division title and ASUN tournament runner-up finish in the spring 2021 season. 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 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.
 
#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 87 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 25, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three 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 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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.
 
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