FORT MYERS, Fla. - In the wake of Hurricane Ian, FGCU Volleyball's home matches this weekend versus Lipscomb and Austin Peay have been relocated to Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida at the McAuthur Center.

FGCU will host Lipscomb (Friday) and Austin Peay (Saturday) from the Bay Area as both matches are now slated to begin at 5 p.m. Directions to and parking information around the McArthur Center can be viewed HERE. Both matchups are non-ticketed and will also be live streamed on the SSC Digital Newtwork.

The Green and Blue enters the weekend 11-4 overall, 1-1 in the ASUN and holds a RPI of 76 having not playing a match since September 24 (12 days). Two originally scheduled matches against Stetson last weekend were postponed to later date as Hurricane Ian made landfall in the Fort Myers area.

Lipscomb travels to the Sunshine State 6-9 overall and 3-1 (T2) in the ASUN. Austin Peay is 9-6 and 2-2 (7th) in league play. Lipscomb holds a 17-13 all-time record over FGCU, but the Eagles have won eight of the last nine meetings against the Bisons. The Eagles will face Austin Peay for the first time in program history on Saturday.

Despite playing two less matches thus far, the fifth-place Eagles rank second in the conference in total service aces with 102. Nationally, the Green and Blue ranks 20th in aces per set (1.92). The Eagles also rank toward the top in the ASUN in hitting percentage, second at .243 percent.

Fifth-year senior and nationally-ranked setter Chelsey Lockey (Easton Colo.) directs the high-powered Eagle offense. Lockey has eclipsed the 4,000 career assist milestone to become just the third Eagle ever to accomplish the feat.

This season, Lockey has tallied a team-leading 554 assists, placing 57th nationally. Her 10.45 assists per set ranks third in the conference and 32nd in the country. Lockey also leads the squad in service aces with 22.

Offensively, FGCU is spearheaded by junior outside hitter Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio). Shomaker has produced the fourth most kills in the ASUN this season at 201. Her 200+ total puts her 110th on national lists.

Both Lauren Clark (Champlin, Minn.) and Lily Felts (Knoxville, Tenn.) have posted over 100 kills.

On the defensive side of the ball, libero Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio) sets the tone with a team-leading 225 digs, ninth overall in the ASUN and 127th nationally. Axner has played a major role in keeping opponents' hitting percentage to a combined .177.

Juliana Lentz (Miami, Fla.) paces the Eagle net defense with a team-leading 36 blocks.

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 194-63 (.754) record overall, including a 97-21 (.822) 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 11 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. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. 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.