FORT MYERS, Fla. -- FGCU head volleyball coach Matt Botsford added its seventh addition Friday to 2023 Eagles roster, transfer outside hitter Alexandra Zakutney (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada/École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité) from Green Bay.
Zakutney joins fellow Jacksonville State transfer outside hitter Courtney Glotzbach, Iowa transfer setter Lily Tessier, and four incoming freshmen: middle blocker Ella Chapman, outside hitter Ava Smith, setter Shanelle Puetz, and libero Reese Burry.
"Alex has spent the last few years as one of the top players in her conference, and was called upon to be a high volume attacker, a shut-down blocker, a primary passer, and a steadying force in the back row," Botsford said. "Not only has she done that, the efficiency in which she did it is remarkable. To add a player of those talents to our roster is always a huge benefit. As a fifth-year student-athlete coming from a winning program, Alex adds valuable experience to our group, on top of her exceptional on-court skills."
The 5-foot-10 transfer outside hitter is a three-time First Team All-Horizon League recipient. In her five seasons with the Phoenix, Zakutney racked up more than 1,300 career kills and 800 career digs.
Last season as a redshirt junior, Zakutney fired a team- and career-high 435 kills -- second overall in the Horizon League. She also held a team-leading 3.66 kills per set, ranking third in the Horizon. Zakutney recorded a season-high 27 kills in a five-set battle against Wright State.
Zakutney notched 20 kills and 12 digs in 3-1 win over Power Five opponent Alabama, and played a major role in helping Green Bay sweep opponents 16 times throughout the season.
On the defensive side of the ball, Zakutney tallied a career high 323 digs, third on the team last season. Zakutney would also go on to earn three Horizon Player of the Week awards in 2022 leading the Phoenix all the way to the Horizon League semifinals with a 23-11 record and 13-5 in league play.
As a redshirt sophomore, Zakutney recorded the most aces (51) of any Phoenix player since 2003.
The accolades just keep on coming for Zakutney, especially in the classroom, as she is a seven-time Horizon League All-Academic Honor student-athlete.
The Eagles finished the 2022 campaign 26-7 and 13-3 in the ASUN Conference en route to a second straight ASUN Tournament Championship for the first time in program history. FGCU would fall just three points shy of a reverse sweep of sixth-seeded Iowa State in its third-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
Botsford lead Eagles have posted 20-or-more wins in eight out of the last nine seasons, excluding 2020. Botsford is also the winningest coach in FGCU history and ranks 11th in the nation among all active DI coaches in career winning percentage at .761 percent, 210-66.
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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 11th 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 98 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 48 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. Nine FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 20 in 2021-22 and No. 22 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 15 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20 in 2022), and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as five 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 3.67 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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