FORT MYERS, Fla. - FGCU Volleyball posted a 3-1 home-opening win over Buffalo Friday night to kick off the Homewood Suites FGCU Invitational.

FGCU improved to 8-3 on the season, winning its third straight match. Buffalo fell to 8-3 in the loss to the Eagles.

St. Francis Brooklyn and Buffalo opened the invitational as the first matchup of the day. The Bulls defeated the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers 3-0. St. Francis then faced Florida Atlantic at 4 p.m., losing once again 3-0.

HOMEWOOD SUITES FGCU INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE

Fri: Sept. 16
St. Francis 0, Buffalo 3
FAU 3, St. Francis 0
Buffalo 1, FGCU 3

Sat: Sept. 17
11 AM:(6-8) St. Francis v. (8-3) FGCU   (Digs and donuts: free donuts to Dirty Birds while supplies last)
1 PM:(8-3) Buffalo v. (9-1) FAU
7 PM:(9-1) FAU v. (8-3) FGCU   (Pack the Nest Night and Teacher Appreciation Night: Postgame meet and greet & pizza with coach Botsford and the team)

Tonight marked the first-ever meeting between FGCU and Buffalo. In front of 1,219 Green and Blue faithful, FGCU opened the night with a 25-22 set-one victory. A 5-0 run early in the first helped spark a 14-10 lead.

"The environment was great," head coach Matt Botsford said. "I was really excited to see that many people in the student section. We battled through some early phases of the game where things were quite not were we wanted them to be. We competed and finally started to find a rhythm toward the end. What Lauren Clark individually did out there was amazing. She helped us through some tough spots. I was really happy with our bench as well. It was a big difference."

In the second, Buffalo answered and pushed the Eagles as the Bulls secured a 30-32 win to knot the game at one set apiece heading into the third.

FGCU trailed most of the third before grinding its way back to tie the set 20-20. A 9-2 run lifted the Green and Blue to a gritty 2-1 set advantage, winning the third 25-21.

The Eagles then jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the fourth. The Bulls were able to draw within two, 14-12, but FGCU fanned its cape to a victorious fourth (25-17) and match win.

Four Eagles posted double-digit kills on the night, Erin Shomaker (18), Clark (season high 15), Lily Felts (10) and Juliana Lentz (10). Felts tallied a double-double, adding 14 digs to her 10 kills. On 22 swings, Clark produced a team-leading .591 hitting percentage for the game.

Chelsey Lockey also recorded a double-double effort with 45 assists and 13 digs. Lockey and Felts (season high 14) recorded double figures in digs alongside libero Dana Axner (18).

FGCU returns to Alico Arena on Saturday to face St. Francis for Digs and Donuts at 11 a.m. The Eagles will cap the Homewood Suites FGCU Invitational with an in-state battle against FAU at 7 p.m.

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 192-62 (.756) 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.