DELAND, Fla. – On the second day of conference action, the FGCU beach volleyball team split matches with Jacksonville and No. 9 Stetson Saturday. The Eagles (2-3, 1-3 A-Sun) defeated Jacksonville 4-1 but fell by the same score line to No. 9 Stetson. The Dolphins are now 2-5 on the year while Stetson improved to 12-1.

The Eagles' win over the Dolphins was the first Atlantic Sun win since 2013, a 3-2 victory over Mercer.

"Today we made some big strides as a team and saw a nice improvement with our overall play," said head coach Matt Botsford. "The ball handling was markedly better and that was without question the biggest difference."

FGCU 4, JACKSONVILLE 1
Once again, the Eagles stormed to a lead against the Dolphins, but this time FGCU was able to hang on. Caroline Jordan (Orlando, Fla./William R Boone High School) and Marlene Moeller (Lüdinghausen, Germany/Pascal Gymnasium) started the day with a 21-18, 21-15 over Shelby Babowicz and Olga Nushtayeva at No. 4. Then Madi Wilcox (Mundelein, IL/Mundelein High School) and Elisa Anne Aldrich (Charleston, S.C./Wando High School) doubled the Eagle lead with a tough three-set win. The FGCU duo claimed the first set 21-18 but JU came back to win 21-11 in the second set. Aldrich and Wilcox continued to fight, claiming the third set 15-12 to put FGCU in front 2-0.

Jacksonville claimed a win at No. 3 when Emily Laskelle and Katie Krawczyk defeated Katherine Puisis (Mason, Ohio/William Mason High School) and Ashley Glickert (Chesterfield, Mo/Parkway Central High School) 21-13, 21-16. Clinging to a slim 2-1 lead, the senior pairing of Eleonora Kazarian (Tibilisi, Georgia/College of Central Florida) and Vanessa Benke (Toledo, Brazil/College of Central Florida) claimed the win at No. 1. The top-team for FGCU defeated Kelly Koop and Mayara Prestes 21-15, 21-15. Mackenzie Allen (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast High School) and Karissa Rhoades (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior High School) finished the morning with a three-set win for FGCU. After dropping the first set 21-8 to Mackenzie Swan and Cristina Finan, the duo came back in the second set to win 21-15. In the third, the Eagle team claimed a 15-11 win to conclude the 4-1 FGCU win.

FULL RESULTS
1) Kazarian/Benke (FGCU) def. Koop/Prestes (JU) 21-15, 21-15
2) Allen/Rhoades (FGCU) def. Swan/Finan (JU) 8-21, 21-15, 15-11
3) Laskelle/Krawczyk (JU) def. Glickert/Puisis (FGCU) 21-13, 21-16
4) Moeller/Jordan (FGCU) def. Babowicz/Nushtayeva (JU) 21-18, 21-15
5) Wilcox/Aldrich (FGCU) def. McMahon/Gomez (JU) 21-18, 11-21, 15-12
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 3, 1, 2

No. 9 STETSON 4, FGCU 1
The Eagles split the first two matches against the Hatters, with Aldrich and Wilcox defeating Stetson for the second time in as many days. In the three-set match, the Eagle duo defeated Charlotte Earnhart and Samantha Harris 21-17, 11-21, 16-14. Jordan and Moeller then dropped a 21-14, 21-18 decision to Madison Akins and Lauren Durham to bring the overall match to 1-1.

Benke and Kazarian lost at No. 1 to put FGCU behind 2-1 in the match. The seniors fell 21-8, 21-11 in their match. Glickert and Amanda Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia High School) made their season-debut as a pairing, falling to Emily Carroll and Kaylee Anderson 23-21, 21-13 at No. 3.

In the final match of the day, Allen and Rhoades took their first set against Kristin Lind and Rachel Noble 24-22. The Hatters then tied it up with a 21-15 second set before taking the third set 15-8.

FULL RESULTS
1) Putt/Strakova (SU) def. Kazarian/Benke (FGCU) 21-8, 21-11
2) Lind/Noble (SU) def. Allen/Rhoades (FGCU) 20-22, 21-15, 15-8
3) Carroll/Anderson (SU) def. Glickert/Carroll (FGCU) 23-21, 21-13
4) Akins/Durham (SU) def. Jordan/Moeller (FGCU) 21-14, 21-18
5) Aldrich/Wilcox (FGCU) def. Earnhart/Harris (SU) 21-17, 11-21, 16-14
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 1, 3, 2

FOLLOW ALONG
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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.