FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Florida Gulf Coast sand volleyball team dropped its first two matches of the season, falling to Stetson 4-1 and 5-0 Friday afternoon at Estero Community Park.

In the first match of the day sophomore Jill Hopper (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown HS) and freshman Natalie Feathers (St. Petersburg, Fla./Indian Rocks Christian HS), who played in the No. 5 spot, opened the afternoon with two-set loss (21-17, 21-13) to Stetson's Erin Robertson and Erika White. FGCU's No. 4 squad, sophomore Liga Strautniece (Riga, Latvia/Rigas Anglu Gimmazija) and junior Christine Pinder (Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz HS/Houston/Central Florida CC) dropped a 2-0 decision (21-19, 21-16) to the Hatter duo of Alisha Hoffman and Catherine Coston. 

After senior Lindsey Childs (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./South Plantation HS) and sophomore Olivia Mesner (Boca Raton, Fla./Spanish River HS) fell 2-0 (21-10, 21-15) to Katie DiGirolamo and Jordann Dierickx, the Eagles secured their first victory of the match when the No. 2 pairing of junior Kaitlin Holm (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS/Marshall) and sophomore Whitney Masters (Muncie, Ind./Wapahani HS) defeated Maren Rygh and Savannah Byl 2-0 (22-20, 21-16). Brooke Kohler (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter HS/Clemson) and Brittany Muse (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto County HS) lost the battle of No. 1's to Julie Bassett and Kaley Melville (21-15, 23-21).

In the second match of the afternoon Stetson defeated FGCU 5-0. The duos of Mesner/Childs and Strautniece/Pinder fell in three sets while the other duos for the Green and Blue lost in two sets.

The Eagles will return to the sand on Sunday, March 24 when they host the Dolphins of Jacksonville at the Estero Community Park. The dual-match is set to begin at 10 a.m.

Stetson 4, FGCU 1
No. 1: Bassett/Melville (Stetson) def. Kohler/Muse (FGCU) – 21-15, 23-21
No. 2: Holm/Masters (FGCU) def. Rygh/Byl (Stetson) – 22-20, 21-16
No. 3: DiGirolamo/Dierickx (Stetson) def. Childs/Mesner (FGCU) – 21-10, 21-15
No. 4: Hoffman/Coston (Stetson) def. Strautniece/Pinder (FGCU) – 21-19, 21-16
No. 5: Robertson/White (Stetson) def. Hopper/Feathers (FGCU) – 21-17, 21-13

Stetson 5, FGCU 0
No. 1: Bassett/Melville (Stetson) def. Holm/Masters (FGCU) – 21-12, 21-19
No. 2: Rygh/Byl (Stetson) def. Kohler/Muse (FGCU) – 21-15, 21-18
No. 3: DiGirolamo/Dierickx (Stetson) def. Childs/Mesner (FGCU) – 21-15, 15-21, 17-15
No. 4: Hoffman/Coston (Stetson) def. Strautniece/Pinder (FGCU) – 21-13, 20—22, 15-8
No. 5: Robertson/White (Stetson) def. Hopper/Feathers (FGCU) – 21-13, 21-6