FORT MYERS, Fla. - FGCU Volleyball is set for its home opener on Friday against Buffalo as the Eagles host the Homewood Suites FGCU Invitational.
First serve against the Bulls Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wear green for the Green Out at Alico Arena. FGCU faculty/staff and students get in free all season with a valid Eagle ID. Free volleyball magnets and posters will be available Friday.
The FGCU/Buffalo matchup will also witness the unveiling of the 2021 ASUN Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance banners. Tickets can be purchased at Alico Arena or online at the FGCU Ticket Office.
On Saturday, the Eagles will then face St. Francis (11 a.m.) for Digs and Donuts and FAU (7 p.m.) for Pack the Nest/Teacher Appreciation Night on Saturday to close the invitational. A post game meet and greet will follow in the Hillmyer-Tremont suite after Saturday's match against FAU.
Buffalo, Florida Atlantic, and St. Francis will also be competing in a pool play format at Alico Arena this weekend.
HOMEWOOD SUITES FGCU INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE
Fri: Sept. 16
11 AM St. Francis v. Buffalo
4 PM FAU v. St. Francis
7 PM Buffalo v. FGCU (Free magnets and poster night)
Sat: Sept. 17
11 AM St. Francis v.
FGCU (Digs and donuts: free donuts to Dirty Birds while supplies last)
1 PM Buffalo v. FAU
7 PM FAU v.
FGCU (Pack the Nest Night and Teacher Appreciation Night: Postgame meet and greet & pizza with coach Botsford and the team)
FGCU and the tournament hosts Eagles enter the home-opening weekend at 7-3 after posting back-to-back sweeps.
FAU is 8-1 and on a six-game win streak, winning the Dolphin Classic its last time out. Buffalo is 7-2, on a four-game win streak and won the WNY Invite. St. Francis is also on a four game win-streak after going 3-0 at the Columbia Invitational. The Terriers are 6-6 on the year and have posted three sweeps in their last four wins.
Nationally, FAU ranks 6th in kills per set, 14.57. FAU also nationally ranks in the top 5 statically in assists per set, second at 13.83. The Green and Blue ranks second in the ASUN in service aces with 72 on the season.
On Tuesday night, FGCU produced a 3-0 road sweep of in-state opponent Florida International.
For the first time this season, three Eagles posted double-figure kills in the win over the Panthers. Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio) led the charge with 15, while Lauren Clark Champlin, Minn) and Lily Felts (Knoxville, Tenn.) each added 10.
Fifteen kills for Shomaker marked her fifth double-digit kill effort of the season. Shomaker's team-leading 134 kills on the year rank second in the ASUN and 44th nationally. Her 3.33 kills per set currently place third in the conference.
| Place. Name (Year) |
FGCU Career Kills |
| 1. Cortney VanLiew (2017-21) |
1,657 |
| 2. Amanda Carroll (2015-19) |
1,483 |
| 3. Brooke Youngquist (2004-07) |
1,173 |
| 4. Olivia Mesner (2011-14) |
1,132 |
| 5. Erin Shomaker (2019- |
1,022 |
Setter Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo.) recorded 34 assists and libero Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio) produced 16 digs against FIU. Lockey's 10.23 assists per set this season rank fifth in the ASUN, and she ranks 25th nationally in total assists (358).
Axner ranks 4th among all active Division I players in career assists (2,094) and second all-time in the ASUN.
| Place. Name (University and Years) |
ASUN Career Digs |
| 1. Shelley Walroth (Jacksonville: 2006-09) |
2,456 |
| 2. Dana Axner (FGCU: 2018- |
2,094 |
| 3. Ann Mullins (Lipscomb: 2005-07) |
1,969 |
| 4. Nicole Baran (North Florida: 2009-12) |
1,900 |
| 5. Adriana Nieto (NJIT: 2015-18) |
1,878 |
Both Shomaker and Axner will be recognized pregame versus FAU Saturday night. Shomaker for becoming the fifth Eagle to ever reach the 1,000 career kill milestone at FGCU and Axner for becoming the all-time leader in career digs.
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 191-62 (.755) 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.
