Naples Standard

Florida Gulf Coast University Athletics issued the following announcement on Aug. 30.

After leading FGCU with 36 kills en route to a 3-0 start to the year, junior outside hitter Erin Shomaker (Granville, Ohio/Granville HS) was tabbed the ASUN Player of the Week on Monday. Shomaker's weekend was highlighted by a double-double against Rutgers and six set-winning kills.

"Erin kicked off the season the same way she finished it last spring – in dominating fashion," said head coach Matt Botsford. "You can see that she is growing well beyond just the attacking component and that emphasis on first touch and blocking makes her a factor every time she is on the court. I'm excited to see her continue to grow over the coming weeks and months."

Shomaker was named to the Homewood Suites FGCU Invitational All-Tournament Team for her performance. Against Rutgers, she had a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs while also adding three blocks. She had six set-winning kills and two match-winning kills for the weekend.

She had her best hitting effort of the three games against South Florida where she posted a .407 attack percentage to go alongside eight digs and two blocks.

Her 36 total kills give her 511 for her career which now ranks 14th all-time during the program's Division I era. She needs 39 more to past Giovanna Borgiotti (2016-19) for 13th all-time.

For the Eagles, the three three-set sweeps on the weekend marked just the third time in program history that FGCU started off the season in perfect fashion. Overall, the 3-0 start for the Eagles marks the sixth time in program history to do so (2004, 2005, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021).

Shomaker entered the season as the ASUN Preseason Player of the Year after earning the league's top honor following the spring season. She was also named an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American and a VolleyballMag.com Honorable Mention All-American in addition to earning ASUN All-Tournament Team recognition in the spring 2021 season. She totaled 242 kills this past season, while hitting .302 and adding 152 digs and 28 blocks. Nationally, she finished fourth in points per set (5.58), sixth in kills per set and 15th in aces per set (0.53). Her 4.75 kills per set ranks as the sixth best in ASUN history, and her 0.53 aces per set is the 11th best ASUN season. Furthermore, she tallied eight double-doubles over 15 matches while producing 10-plus kills in 14 of those, including five matches with at least 20 kills and 10 digs.

Original source can be found here.