In an announcement made Monday morning by Florida Gulf Coast University, Colorado State volleyball assistant coach Matthew Botsford accepted the head coaching position at FGCU.

The opportunity has been a life-long dream of his to be a head coach in Division I volleyball.

“It’s exciting to get a head coaching opportunity like this,” Botsford said in a statement released by the athletic department. “At the same time, it’s difficult to walk away from a phenomenal program and tremendous group of players and staff that I’ve invested so much into.”

Botsford has been an important contribution to the Rams for the last two years, he specialized with middle blockers and was the Rams’ scouting coordinator.

His blocking calls for the Rams this season earned them a No. 13 rank in the NCAA along with senior Samantha Peters, Mountain West Player of the Year, who attained a top-25 ranking of players nationally in both blocking and hitting percentage.

“Matt is a very energetic coach,” CSU head coach Tom Hilbert said. “He has great presence on and off the court, and is well-liked. It’s sad to lose a coach like him, but you’re also happy for him because he has aspirations to move on in this vocation, and he has earned that. I want to be a good mentor to everybody who works here; I have no interest in holding anyone back.”

CSU is looking to replace Botsford immediately.

“We’ll find a great candidate to replace Matt,” Hilbert said. “Colorado State is a program people want to be a part of, and we’ll have a great pool of candidates to fill that spot. We’ll look for someone who has the same skill set that Matt has, and we’re always looking for great recruiters and coaches who want to be Rams.”

Collegian Assistant Sports Reporter Haleigh Hamblin at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @haleighhamblin.