MACON, Ga. – The FGCU sand volleyball team made strides toward improvement Saturday with matches against North Florida and Mercer but ultimately fell in both. The Eagles were outscored by one match in a 3-2 loss to UNF and avoided a sweep with a 4-1 loss to Mercer Saturday afternoon at the Mercer Sand Volleyball Complex.
 
The Eagles fall to 0-9 on the season, while UNF moves to 8-6 and Mercer improves to 7-5 on the year.
 
Olivia Mesner (Boca Raton, Fla./Spanish River High School) and Madi Wilcox (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein High School) continued their success in the no. 5 position Saturday with two wins. The duo improved to 7-2 on the season and holds the team's best record.
 
In the no. 1 slot, Whitney Masters (Muncie, Ind./Wapahani High School) and Eleonora Kazarian (Tibilisi, Georgia/College of Central Florida) earned a two-set win over UNF to help the Green and Blue challenge the Ospreys.
 
"Ella and Whitney played their best match of the year against UNF," explained head coach Matt Botsford. "They have played at a high level all season, so it was nice to see them come away with a win. Madi and Olivia have found a nice groove and continue to be a difficult matchup for our opponents."
 
The team will continue action with a pair of midweek matches in the coming week. FGCU will host Webber International at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Mar. 31 and will welcome Eckerd to the Estero Community Park sand courts Wednesday, April 1 for a 4 p.m. contest.
 
Check back to FGCUAthletics.com for more information on Saturday's matches as it becomes available.
 
For up-to-the minute information and a behind-the-scenes look at the FGCU volleyball program, follow on Twitter at @FGCU_VB, on Facebook at /FGCUVolleyball and on Instagram at @FGCU_VB.
 
Head coach Matt concluded his first year at the helm of the FGCU volleyball program with a record of 19-11 with a second-place finish in Atlantic Sun Conference play. Botsford's team also had five players recognized as All-Conference winner to set a new program high. Prior to his time in Southwest Florida, Botsford held successful stints as an assistant at Notre Dame, Miami, IUIPI, Indianapolis and most recently Colorado State. Botsford is a former professional volleyball player and is a 1998 graduate of Tri-State University, where he earned a degree in Social Studies Education.  He earned a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Indianapolis.