FORT MYERS, Fla. - FGCU Volleyball begins ASUN conference action this weekend on the road at North Florida and Jacksonville.

The ASUN Preseason Favorites are set to face North Florida (2-9) on Friday at 4 p.m. and Jacksonville (6-6) on Saturday at 5 p.m., both at the University of Jacksonville. Friday's matchup will be streamed on Swoop Live TV and Saturday will air on YouTube.

FGCU (10-3) soars into the weekend on a five-game win streak and is coming off a 3-0 outing and invitational champ status as the hosts of the Homewood Suites FGCU Invitational. FGCU's only defeats on the year have come against No. 16 Florida (9-2), a now ranked Arkansas (9-2) squad and Colorado State (8-4).

North Florida has lost to five Power Five opponents this season, winning a set at No. 15 Florida.

The Green and Blue holds a four-match win streak over North Florida and also holds a 29-8 all-time record versus the Ospreys. Against Jacksonville, FGCU holds a 12-match win streak and a 27-11 all-time series advantage.

North Florida was picked to finish sixth and Jacksonville was selected to place 12th in the ASUN Preseason Coaches Poll.

Both Jacksonville and FGCU took home an ASUN player of the week award this week. Kariana Ayala-Drew won the ASUN Defensive Player of the Week, and Chelsey Lockey (Easton, Colo.) garnered ASUN Setter of the Week honors.

Lockey's team-leading 471 assists on the year ranks 19th nationally and third in the ASUN. Lockey's 10.47 assists per set also ranks third in the conference, 29th nationally.

Lockey is on the rise in the Green and Blue record book as well. She is third on the all-time career assist (3,955) leaderboard at FGCU and is 454 assists away from moving into second all-time.

Offensively, the Eagles are led by 1,000 career kill machine Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio), who is third in the ASUN and 54th nationally in total kills behind a team-leading 169. Her 3.76 kills per set also ranks third in the conference.

Defensive specialist and libero Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio) is third in the ASUN in total digs (team-leading 189) and fifth in the conference in digs per set (4.20) this season. The all-time leader in career digs at FGCU is second all-time in the ASUN and is fifth all-time among all active Division I players.

As a team, FGCU statistical effectiveness thus far ranks top three in the ASUN in total kills, kills per set, hitting percentage, assists, assists per set, blocks, block assists, points and points per set. Nationally, FGCU currently places top 50 in assists per set, aces per set and in opponent hitting percentage.

EAGLES ON THE RISE

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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 193-62 (.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.