FORT MYERS, Fla.  – The Florida Gulf Coast sand volleyball team split a pair matches on the weekend, defeating FAU (4-1) at Estero Community Park and falling to No. 8 FIU (5-0) in South Beach.

With the weekend split FGCU improved to 4-6 overall.

Seniors Brooke Kohler (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter HS/Clemson) and Brittany Muse (Arcadia, Fla./DeSoto County HS) highlighted Friday's play, picking up a 2-0 win in the No. 1 pairing against the Owls (21-8, 21-11). Junior Kaitlin Holm (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS/Marshall) and sophomore Whitney Masters (Muncie, Ind./Wapahani HS) at the No. 2 position, senior Lindsey Childs (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./South Plantation HS) and sophomore Olivia Mesner (Boca Raton, Fla./Spanish River HS) in the No. 3 spot and sophomore Liga Strautniece (Riga, Latvia/Rigas Anglu Gimmazija) and junior Christine Pinder (Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz HS/Houston/Central Florida CC) as the No. 4 duo all picked up 2-0 sweeps.

Sophomore Jill Hopper (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown HS) and freshman Natalie Feathers (St. Petersburg, Fla./Indian Rocks Christian HS) fell to FAU's tandem of Megan Knapp and Alisha Noble 21-15 and 21-16.

On Saturday, the No. 8 Panthers swept the Eagles in every match, taking the 5-0 victory to improve to 6-5 in dual matches.

The Green and Blue return to the sand on April 12, when they face No. 3 Florida State and No. 9 Tulane in the regular season finale at the Fiesta at Siesta Tournament from April 12-14 in Siesta Key, Fla.

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
FGCU def. FAU, 4-1
1. Brooke Kohler/Brittany Muse (FGCU) def. Isabelle Arboleda/Chandler Hatton (FAU) 21-8. 21-11.
2. Kaitlin Holm/Whitney Masters (FGCU) def. Alessia Pizzocherri/Jelena Jovanovic (FAU) 21-12 21-13.
3. Olivia Mesner/Lindsey Childs (FGCU) def. Darija Sataric/Andrea Galini (FAU) 21-12 26-24
4. Christine Pinder/Liga Strautniece (FGCU) def. Jenneifer St Sume/Gabriella Pyle (FAU) 21-16 21-17.
5. Megan Knapp/Alisha Noble (FAU) def. Jill Hopper/Natalie Feathers (FGCU) 15-21 16-21.

SATURDAY'S RESULTS
No. 8 FIU def. FGCU, 5-0
1. Kate Stepanova/Ksenia Sukhareva (FIU) def. Brooke Kohler/Brittany Muse (FGCU) 21-16, 21-14
2. Jessica Mendoza/Maryna Samoday (FIU) def. Kaitlin Holm/Whitney Masters (FGCU) 21-11, 21-6
3. Camila Rosado/Maria Coukoulis (FIU) def. Olivia Mesner/Lindsey Childs (FGCU) 21-19, 21-17
4. Jessica Gehrke/Laura Duffy (FIU) def. Christine Pinder/Liga Strautniece (FGCU) 21-15, 21-11
5. Emily Podschweit/Tina Toghiyani (FIU) def. Jill Hopper/Katie Gutmann (FGCU) 21-5, 21-9