FORT MYERS, Fla. - FGCU Volleyball's first serve of the 2022 campaign begins this weekend as the Eagles travel north for the Maryland Invite, a three-game invitational hosted by Maryland University.
The Eagles are scheduled for twin-bill action on Friday against both Navy and Rhode Island. The season opener against Navy is set for 10 a.m. and the second match of the day against Rhode Island is scheduled for 4 p.m.
FGCU will close the Maryland Invite on Saturday at 6 p.m. against the tournament host, the Maryland Terrapins. FGCU is 2-8 all-time against the Big Ten and has six Power Five wins to its resume. The Green and Blue defeated Indiana in 5-sets at home back on Sept. 10, 2016, the first Power 5 win in program history.
All three matches will be aired on BigTen+ as FGCU will face each program for the first time in school history.
FGCU enters 2022 as the ASUN preseason favorites as picked by the ASUN Coaches' Poll despite losing the all-time leader in kills, Courtney VanLiew. Three Eagles garnered preseason honors, returnees Erin Shomaker and Chelsey Lockey and Tennessee transfer Lily Felts. Shoemaker was named Preseason Player of the Year, Lockey was named Preseason Setter of the Year and Felts earned Preseason All-Conference.
| Pos. Name (Year) |
# of Career Digs |
| 1. Whitney Hendry (2004-07) |
1,965 |
| 2. Dana Axner (2018-22) |
1,958 |
| 3. Whitney Masters (2011-14) |
1,687 |
| 4. Holly Youngquist (2008-11) |
1,652 |
| 5. Brooke Youngquist (2004-07 |
1,369 |
Fifth-year senior Dana Axner (1958) is eight digs away from becoming the program's all-time leader in career digs. Of the 2021-22 active players last season, Axner ranked 15th nationally in Division I.
Shomaker is 39 kills away from moving into 6th all-time in career kills at FGCU.
Last season, the Green and Blue tied the single-season program mark in victories (27), won both the ASUN regular season and tournament titles and captured a NCAA First Round win over Texas Tech. FGCU also posted its best-ever RPI of No. 31 during the year, defeating Georgia, held a 15 match win-streak and went 14-0 at home.
Ninth-year head coach Matt Botsford has also now guided the Eagles to four straight ASUN regular-season championships and two ASUN Tournament Championships, including two First Round wins in the NCAA Tournament. 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 eight seasons and at least 10 wins in conference play in all eight.
Over the last five seasons, FGCU has recorded the 12th most wins of any team in the country at 144, which is more than Stanford, Penn State, and Washington, but just behind Minnesota and the Badgers.
Scouting the Competition
Navy finished the 2021 season 13-14 overall and 8-8 in the Patriot League en route to the conference semifinals. Navy was picked to finish fourth in the 2022 Patriot League preseason coaches poll. The Midshipmen's two-time all-league middle blocker Maggie Bodman was also named to the preseason all-league team.
Rhode Island closed 13-19 a year ago and 5-11 in the Atlantic 10. The Rams were picked to finish eighth in the A10 and welcome back 12 players from last year's squad.
Maryland went 19-13 and 7-13 in the Big Ten last season. Maryland middle blocker Rainelle Jones was voted to the 2022 Preseason All-Big Ten Team as the Terps were picked to finish 10th in the conference.
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 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 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 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 10 plus 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. In five of the past six semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2021), the Eagles reached another milestone 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.
