JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - FGCU Volleyball posted a bounce-back win on the road at Jacksonville Saturday, a 3-0 sweep.

"Happy to get the win and very pleased with the way our pins managed the game tonight," head coach Matt Botsford said. "Defensively, I thought our block was much more organized which really allowed some great opportunities for Dana to do her thing."

With the win, the Eagles improved to 10-4 on the year and 1-1 in the ASUN. The Dolphins sank to 7-7 overall and 1-1 in league play with the loss.

Saturday marked the fifth-consecutive sweep the Eagles have had over the Dolphins. FGCU also extended its current win streak over Jacksonville to 13, 12 of those being clean sweeps.

Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo.) posted her sixth double-double of the season, 39 assists and 11 digs. Lockey also eclipsed the 4,000 career assist mark at FGCU, becoming just the third Eagle ever to do so.

The Green and Blue appeared to be reeling early after Friday's defeat against North Florida, but the Eagles found their footing late in the first and never looked back. FGCU won 25-21, 25-20 and 25-12.

The Dolphins swam out to a 16-15 advantage in the first, but FGCU rallied off a 7-0 run for an ensuing opening-set win.

In the second, the Eagles hit .488 percent with only one recorded error. FGCU massively cleaned up its service line approach Saturday as the Eagles tallied just three errors for the entire match.

FGCU took care of business in the third. Only one instance of a tie score occurred in the third set. In full control, FGCU held a 19-9 set-three lead over the Dolphins en route to its 25-12 set win and a match victory.

Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio) added a team-leading 17 digs on the defensive side of the ball.

Offensively, Erin Shomaker (16), Lauren Clark (tying season-high of 12) and Lily Felts (10) each produced double-figures in kills. Clark hit .524 on 21 swings.

FGCU will be back in action next week on the road at Stetson (6 p.m.) on Friday, Sept. 30 before hosting Stetson on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. in Alico Arena.

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 194-63 (.754) record overall, including a 97-21 (.821) 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 15 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.