Eagles Storm Again to Defeat Jacksonville State In 5 Units

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – FGCU Volleyball overcame a 2-1 deficit to defeat Jacksonville State in a five-set battle (25-15, 21-25, 17-25, 25-19, 15-12) on Friday.

The Eagles’ momentous win helps FGCU maintain tempo within the ASUN Convention regular-season race at 7-3, 17-6 general. FGCU successfully traded spots with Jacksonville State and moved into fifth place. Jacksonville State fell to 19-5 and 7-4 in league play, sixth general. FGCU additionally remained good all-time in opposition to the Gamecocks at 3-0.

Kennesaw State, Liberty and Lipscomb stay tied atop the ASUN standings at 9-2, every profitable on Friday. Kennesaw State and Lipscomb are the one two ASUN groups to clinch a spot within the upcoming ASUN Match on Nov. 17-19.

“Nice group win in a match with loads of shifts in momentum,” head coach Matt Botsford stated. “I like that the group stayed poised and labored by the powerful moments. I believed our group protection actually stood out in opposition to an excellent offensive group, and I used to be particularly happy with all of the gamers coming off the bench discovering methods to contribute. Rylen and Oreva specifically have been glorious in that regard.”

Friday marked simply the third FGCU match all season that went the gap. FGCU was beforehand 0-2 in five-set matches this season.

FGCU appeared just like the preseason favorites to start the evening. The Inexperienced and Blue was firing on all cylinders to hit .438 %, securing the primary set 25-15.

Set two and set three witnessed a completely totally different story. The Eagles didn’t lead in both the second or the third. Jacksonville State opened up a 11-0 benefit within the third.

FGCU wouldn’t go quietly into the evening and battled again within the fourth, trailing two units to at least one. The Gamecocks used a late 5-0 run to tie the fourth at 17 apiece. With their backs in opposition to the wall, the Eagles responded with a 8-2 run out of a timeout to power a decisive fifth set.

The Inexperienced and Blue pulled out a 15-12 victory within the fifth to clinch the match.

FGCU gained the battle up on the web, 8-4 in whole blocks, however Jacksonville State managed the service line 10-6. Getting into the day, FGCU ranked No. 20 in aces per set.

Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio) and Lily Felts (Knoxville, Tenn.) matched one another’s kill efforts with 17 on the evening. Shomaker added 12 digs to offer her second double-double outing of the season, together with a team-leading 4 blocks.

Chelsey Lockey (Eaton, Colo.) tallied 48 assists, one shy of tying her season excessive of 49 in opposition to VCU. Dana Axner (Dublin, Ohio) scored a team-leading 12 digs.

Freshman Rylen Reid (Rolling Meadows, Unwell.) collected a team-best three aces.

FGCU will now set its sights on first-place Kennesaw State (16-5, 9-2 ASUN). The Eagles-Owls showdown commences tomorrow (Saturday) from Kennesaw, Georgia. The match will air on YouTube through the Owl Community beginning at 5 p.m.

EAGLES ON THE RISE

For full protection of the volleyball program, comply with the Eagles on Twitter at @FGCU_VB, on Instagram at @FGCU_VB, on Fb at /FGCUVolleyball and on-line at FGCUathletics.com. You may also sign-up to have information on FGCU volleyball or different applications delivered on to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/electronic mail. 

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COACH BOTSFORD

Matt Botsford completed his eighth season as head coach of the FGCU girls’s volleyball program in 2021 after being employed on Feb. 10, 2014. In his tenure, Botsford-led groups have compiled a 201-65 (.756) report general, together with a 103-23 (.817) report in ASUN play. Together with this previous 12 months’s unprecedented spring season, he has taken this system to heights it has not seen within the Division-I period (2007-present) – registering a minimum of 20 wins in six of the previous seven seasons and a minimum of 10 wins in convention play each season. In 2018, he led this system to its first regular-season championship since 2012 (fourth general) and its first-ever ASUN match title, NCAA match look, NCAA match win and victory over a ranked group. His first two campaigns resulted in ASUN common season runner-up finishes, and the next two noticed the Eagles advance to the match championship. Now, the group has gained four-straight common season titles, together with two ASUN Match Championship Titles. On Sept. 10, 2016, Botsford led his group to a five-set win over Indiana in Alico Area, which signified this system’s first-ever win over a group from a Energy-5 convention. In 2018, he additionally led the group to a win over Miami (Fla.) – this system’s first-ever highway Energy 5 win, and the Eagles adopted that up with a straight-set win over the Hurricanes at a impartial web site in 2019. In 2021, Botsford led the Eagles to 27 victories, tying this system report beforehand set in 2016, 2018 and 2019 seasons, and a NCAA First Spherical win over Texas Tech. The win over the Purple Raiders marked the second NCAA First Spherical win for the Inexperienced and Blue following its 3-2 win over No. 13 UCF in Orlando in 2018.

#FEEDFGCU

FGCU Athletics sponsors occasions in November and April to learn the FGCU Campus Meals Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Meals Financial institution (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics’ charities of selection. For extra data, together with find out how to make a contribution, please go to www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and make the most of the hashtag #FeedFGCU to assist increase consciousness.

ABOUT FGCU

FGCU groups have mixed to win an unbelievable 92 convention common season and match titles in simply 15 seasons on the Division I stage. Moreover, in simply 11 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a mixed 45 groups or people compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the boys’s golf group turned the primary program to earn at at-large berth to the NCAA Match. Eight FGCU applications have earned a top-25 nationwide rating of their respective sport – together with girls’s basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), seashore volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and each males’s soccer (2018, 2019) and ladies’s soccer (2018) as 4 of the newest. In 2016-17, the Inexperienced and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place end within the DI-AAA Learfield Administrators’ Cup and top-100 exhibiting nationally, forward of a number of Energy-5 and FBS establishments. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida finest seven groups earn the NCAA’s Public Recognition Award for his or her Educational Progress Charge of their sport. FGCU additionally collectively earned a report 3.50 GPA within the classroom within the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the final College undergraduate inhabitants for 26 consecutive semesters. The previous 5 semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) noticed one other milestone reached as all 15 applications achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative group GPA. The Eagles additionally served an all-time excessive 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being acknowledged as considered one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Neighborhood Service Award offered by the Fiesta Bowl.