COLLEGE PARK, Md. - FGCU Volleyball opened the 2022 season with a Friday sweep of twin-bill action at the Maryland Invite. The Eagles defeated both Navy and Rhode Island 3-1.
FGCU improved to 2-0 to begin the year, winning the season opener for the sixth-straight season. Maryland, the tournament hosts, defeated Rhode Island 3-0 earlier in action from today. The Green and Blue is set to face Rainelle Jones and Terps on Saturday at 6 p.m. Jones led the NCAA last season in blocks per set at 1.73.
Dana Axner became the FGCU's new all-time leader in career digs (1,986) in the win over Navy.
"Nice to get a couple matches under our feet," head coach Matt Botsford said. "And while there were clearly some areas that we could have managed better in each game, I really like how we closed. Lauren was outstanding all day, both from the service line and at the net attacking. That helped steady things for us as we played with different lineups.
Seeing Juliana back on the court was special, because we all know how hard she has worked since her injury. She has such a presence on the frontline and we felt that immediately with her back. A huge congrats to Dana on cementing her place in the record books. She does it all for us in the backcourt, and is so deserving of her spot at No. 1."
FGCU 3, Navy 1
FGCU captured a four-set victory, 3-1, over the Navy Midshipmen to kick off the 2022 season.
Navy fired first in the opening set as FGCU fell behind 2-0, but the Eagles would counter with a 9-2 run to lead 9-4 early in the match. The Midshipmen pulled within three, 10-13 midway through the first, but the Eagles were able to put Navy away for a 25-20 opening-set victory.
Navy bounced back to steal the second set (25-22) and tied the match at 1-1 apiece. Despite having five service errors in the second, Navy tested the Eagles' receiving and led FGCU in both the kill (15-11) and ace (3-0) category.
In the third, Navy sailed out to a 9-6 advantage.
Senior Lauren Clark would tie the momentous third set at 11-11 courtesy of a power kill. The Midshipmen returned fire stride-for-stride and took a late 20-18 lead, but FGCU powered through to close on a 7-2 run to capture the third (25-22) and lead the match 2-1. The third set witnessed nine tie scores and six lead changes.
The Green and Blue capitalized on the gained momentum and soared out to a commanding 8-3 lead in the fourth. FGCU would top off a 5-0 run to seal the fourth set (25-16) and the season opener.
Navy led FGCU in overall kills 43-37 while FGCU's net defense prevailed 14-9, holding Navy to just a .139 hitting percentage. FGCU took advantage of Navy's 21 service errors en route to victory despite some offensive struggles.
Offensively, Clark paved the way in the opener with 11 kills. The ASUN Preseason Player of the Year Erin Shomaker added eight kills and seven blocks. Chelsey Lockey recorded 28 assists.
With 14 digs against Navy, Axner became FGCU's new all-time leader in career digs (1,972), surpassing Whitney Hendry's(2004-07) total of 1,965.
FGCU 3, Rhode Island 1
The Eagles soared out to a 17-8 lead to open up against the Rams. Rhode Island battled back to pull with in five (22-17), but FGCU secured the set-one win 25-19.
The momentum the Rams gained in the latter half of the opening set propelled them to a 26-24 win in the second to tie the match. FGCU held a 24-20 set-point lead in the second as the Eagles dropped both of the second sets on the day.
Botsford's squad made adjustments, came out firing and cruised to set a three and set-four win to take the match. FGCU won 25-14 and 25-10, never trailing in the last two sets.
Both Shomaker (15) and Clark (12) posted double-digit kills against the Rams. Tennessee transfer Lilly Felts struck for nine. As a team, FGCU held a .281 hitting percentage in second contest of the day.
Shomaker is now 16 kills away from moving into 6th all-time in career kills at FGCU, 911.
Lockey recorded 46 assists and tying the team-leading ace mark of five alongside Clark. Lockey and Clark's five aces each placed tied for sixth in the all-time FGCU individual match records for the most aces in a four-set contest.
At the net defense, Skylar English posted five blocks.
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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 186-59 (.759) 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.
