FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Florida Gulf Coast sand volleyball team picked up its first win of the season, falling to JU 4-1 before defeating the Dolphins 3-2 Sunday 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 day with two-set win (22-20, 21-16) over JU's Kylie Jacob and Thalya Pagan. 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 hard-fought 2-1 decision (21-13, 17-21, 9-15) to the Dolphin duo of Nicole Teplitz and Emily Laskelle.
After senior Lindsey Childs (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./South Plantation HS) and sophomore Olivia Mesner (Boca Raton, Fla./Spanish River HS) fell 2-1 (21-12, 18-21, 9-15), the Eagles' No. 2 pairing of Brooke Kohler (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter HS/Clemson) and Brittany Muse (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto County HS) lost to Kendall Courtney and Niatha Cullen 2-1 (18-21, 21-12, 11-15). Junior Kaitlin Holm (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS/Marshall) and sophomore Whitney Masters (Muncie, Ind./Wapahani HS) dropped a 2-0 (11-21, 13-21) decision to Sammie Strausbaugh and Taylor Nyquist.
In the second match of the afternoon the Green and Blue defeated Jacksonville 3-2. The duos of Mesner/Childs, Strautniece/Pinder and Holm/Masters picked up 2-0 sweeps to give the Eagles their first win of the 2013 season.
The Eagles will return to the sand on Friday, March 29 when they take on the Ospreys of UNF in Macon, Ga. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m.
Jacksonville 4, FGCU 1
No. 1: Strausbaugh/Nyquist (JU) def. Holm/Masters (FGCU) – 21-11, 21-13
No. 2: Courtney/Cullen (JU) def. Kohler/Muse (FGCU) – 21-18, 12-21, 15-11
No. 3: Robertson/Roman (JU) def. Childs/Mesner (FGCU) – 12-21, 21-18, 15-9
No. 4: Teplitz/Laskelle (JU) def. Pinder/Strautniece (FGCU) – 13-21, 21-17, 15-9
No. 5: Hopper/Feathers (FGCU) def. Jacob/Pagan (JU) – 22-20, 21-16
FGCU 3, Jacksonville 2
No. 1: Strausbaugh/Nyquist (JU) def. Kohler/Muse (FGCU) – 21-8, 21-18, 15-12
No. 2: Holm/Masters (FGCU) def. Courtney/Cullen (JU) – 21-18, 21-16
No. 3: Childs/Mesner (FGCU) def. Robertson/Roman (JU) – 22-20, 21-15
No. 4: Pinder/Strautniece (FGCU) def. Jacob/Pagan (JU) – 21-12, 21-14
No. 5: Teplitz/Laskelle (JU) def. Hopper/Feathers (FGCU) – 21-13, 21-5
