FORT MYERS, Fla. - Fifth-year senior setter Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo./Eaton HS) was named to the 2022-23 ASUN Fall Winners for Life Team, as announced by the ASUN Conference on Wednesday.
The team is composed of one student-athlete from each of the 14 ASUN member institutions who exhibit its core values: Education, Honesty, Student-Athlete Experience, Fairness, Health, Ambition, Respect, Diversity, Inclusion, Leadership, Responsibility and Sportsmanship. The honorary selections must also be in academic good standing and competed during the current academic year.
"Among her many talents as a volleyball player and setter, the thing that has always stood out to me about Chelsey was how well she understood the concept of winning and what it takes to be successful," said FGCU volleyball head coach Matt Botsford. "That skill extends well beyond sport, and she demonstrated it on a daily basis outside the athletic arena. She is a competitor and a high achiever in everything she does, which very much tied in to how easy she was to coach. Chelsey is a perfect representation of the ASUN Winner for Life, and I am proud to see her recognized for what she did this fall."
In December, Lockey earned AVCA Southeast All-Region Honorable Mention distinction to accompany her ASUN First Team honors, and now the Fall Winners for Life award.
Lockey etched her name into the FGCU record book this past season by surpassing Maggie Rick (2005-08) to become the all-time leader in career assists (4,748), finishing fifth all-time in the ASUN.
The Eaton, Colo., native directed the Eagles' offensive attack to back-to-back ASUN Championships and NCAA Tournament appearances with a career-high of 1,264 assists. Lockey also guided the Eagles to 26 wins and helped the Green & Blue achieve a nationally top 30 hitting percentage (.266) heading into the postseason.
Lockey placed third in the conference in assists per set with a 10.80 clip, ranking 23rd in the country. She recorded 16 matches of 40-or-more assists, including 44 in the NCAA First Round matchup against (6) Iowa State, and had season high of 49 in a Power Five victory over Maryland.
The do-it-all setter also led the Eagles in total aces (45), and was one of only four Eagles to account for 50-plus blocks defensively (57).
Throughout her career at FGCU, Lockey has been a part of 121 wins, four ASUN regular season championships, two ASUN Tournament titles, two NCAA First Round victories and the first ever-ranked win in program history.
In the classroom, Lockey completed her undergraduate degree with a 3.91 GPA in integrated studies and is now pursuing a grad certificate in local government management.
2022-23 ASUN Conference Fall Winners for Life Team:
Kelsey Mead, Austin Peay - Volleyball
Rahim Shalash, Bellarmine - Men's Soccer
Jerry Gutierrez, Central Arkansas - Men's Soccer
Tucker Schroeder, Eastern Kentucky - Football
Chelsey Lockey, FGCU - Volleyball
Kariana Ayala-Drew, Jacksonville - Volleyball
Lena Kindermann, Jacksonville State - Volleyball
Kendall Higgs, Kennesaw State - Women's Soccer
Kyle Harkabus, Liberty - Men's Cross Country
Noah Gulden, Lipscomb - Men's Soccer
Morgan Ebert, North Alabama - Women's Soccer
Mahalia White, North Florida - Volleyball
Jada Palmer, Queens - Women's Soccer
Jakob McConnell, Stetson - Men's Cross Country
COACH BOTSFORD
Matt Botsford completed his ninth season as head coach of the FGCU women's volleyball program after being hired on Feb. 10, 2014. In his tenure, Botsford-led teams have compiled a 210-66 (.761) overall record, including a 109-23 (.826) mark in ASUN play. Botsford the winningest coach in FGCU history and ranks 13th in the nation among all active DI coaches in career winning percentage. He has taken the program to heights it has not seen in the Division-I era (2007-present), registering at least 20 wins in eight of the past nine seasons (excluding COVID 2020) and at least 10 wins in conference play every year. This season (2022), Botsford recorded his 200th career win at FGCU with a 3-0 sweep of Queens en route to back-to-back ASUN Tournament Titles and a third NCAA Tournament appearance. In 2018, he led the Eagles program to its first regular-season championship since 2012 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, FGCU has made seven straight ASUN title match appearances, won four-straight regular season titles (five total under Botsford), including capturing three ASUN Tournament Championship crowns. On Sept. 10, 2016, Botsford led the Eagles 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 his squad 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, the Green & Blue posted its best-ever RPI of 31 and tallied 27 victories, tying the program record previously set in 2016, 2018 and 2019 seasons, and notched a NCAA First Round win over Texas Tech. The win over the Red Raiders marked the second NCAA First Round win for the Eagles following its 3-2 win over No. 13 UCF in Orlando in 2018. Furthermore, FGCU has now been the home to the ASUN's Player of the Year for the six consecutive season.
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!
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/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 https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 94 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 47 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an 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 and No. 25 in 2022-23) 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 & 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 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 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.
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