ESTERO, Fla. – The FGCU beach volleyball began the 2016 season with a 5-0 win over Stevenson Tuesday at Estero Community Park. The Eagles begin the year 1-0 while Stevenson is now 0-3.

"It's always nice to get the first-match jitters out of the way," said head coach Matt Botsford. "It's nice to be able to do it on your home court as well which was definitely in our favor. Overall the quality of play was pretty good but we have some things to work on heading into conference play but it was a nice start."

The pairing of Caroline Jordan (Orlando, Fla./William R Boone High School) and Marlene Moeller (Lüdinghausen, Germany/Pascal Gymnasium) started the afternoon with a 21-10, 20-10 win at No. 4 over Katie McGuire and Deanna Bradbury and the Eagles would continue to dominate on all courts. Elisa Anne Aldrich (Charleston, S.C./Wando High School) and Madi Wilcox (Mundelein, IL/Mundelein High School) claimed a 21-11, 21-13 win at No. 6 over Grace Coleman and Moriah Savage, giving FGCU a 2-0 advantage.

The senior duo at No. 1 of Eleonora Kazarian (Tibilisi, Georgia/College of Central Florida) and Vanessa Benke (Toledo, Brazil/College of Central Florida) won their match 21-11, 21-11 against Kristen Brooks and Samantha Perillo to secure the win for FGCU but the Green and Blue did not slow down.

Ashley Glickert (Chesterfield, Mo/Parkway Central High School) and Katherine Puisis (Mason, Ohio/William Mason High School) made it 4-0 Eagles, defeating Lauren Weaver and Sara Bollinger 21-13, 21-12 at No. 3. In the most dramatic match of the afternoon, Mackenzie Allen (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast High School) and Karissa Rhoades (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior High School) claimed their first set 21-18. The duo trailed 19-17 in the second set however, but stormed back to win 22-20 finishing off the 5-0 sweep.

UP NEXT
The Eagles begin conference play on the road, facing No. 5 Stetson and Jacksonville. Action in DeLand begins Friday at 2 p.m. against Jacksonville.

FULL RESULTS
1) Kazarian/Benke (FGCU) def. Brooks/Perillo (Stevenson) 21-11. 21-11
2) Allen/Rhoades (FGCU) def. Schwartz/Hren (Stevenson) 21-18, 22-20
3) Glickert/Puisis (FGCU) def. Weaver/Bollinger (Stevenson) 21-13, 21-12
4) Jordan/Moeller (FGCU) def. McGuire/Bradbury (Stevenson) 21-10, 21-10
5) Aldrich/Wilcox (FGCU) def. Coleman/Savage (Stevenson) 21-12, 21-15
Order of Finish: (4, 5, 1, 3, 2)

FOLLOW ALONG
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_BeachVB.

COACH BOTSFORD
Head coach Matt Botsford is in his second year at the helm of the FGCU volleyball program and his teams have combined for an overall 40-22 (.645) record, including a 21-7 (.750) mark in A-Sun play. In his inaugural season, the Eagles finished with a record of 19-11 with a second-place finish in the A-Sun. Botsford has also coached 10 All-Conference selections in just two seasons at FGCU. Prior to his time in Southwest Florida, Botsford held successful stints as an assistant at Notre Dame, Miami, IUPUI, 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.