ESTERO, Fla. – For the second day in a row, the FGCU beach volleyball team split a pair of Atlantic Sun contests against UNF and Mercer Saturday. The Eagles matched their win total from last season, moving to 4-5 overall and 3-5 in the A-Sun. UNF meanwhile is 14-3 overall and 4-1 in conference action while Mercer is now 6-8 and 0-4 in the A-Sun.

"Ashley (Glickert) and Amanda (Carroll) had a great day today, coming through for the team at the 3's to secure our match against Mercer" said head coach Matt Botsford. "Our 4's and 5's continue to show a lot of consistency and have set us up well throughout the early parts of the season. I am most pleased with the way all our pairs played in the UNF match. We had competitive matches across the board with four going to the third and deciding set. Although the bounces didn't go our way, we saw a lot of improvement in comparison to yesterday."

FGCU 3, MERCER 2
The Eagles completed the sweep over Mercer with a 3-2 win to begin the day. The afternoon began with Elisa Anne Aldrich (Charleston, S.C./Wando High School) and Madi Wilcox (Mundelein, IL/Mundelein High School) continuing their strong season, coming from behind at No. 4 to win 13-21, 21-16, 15-13. With the Eagles in front 1-0, Caroline Jordan (Orlando, Fla./William R Boone High School) and Marlene Moeller (Lüdinghausen, Germany/Pascal Gymnasium) posted a 14-21, 21-19, 15-10 win at No. 5, putting the Eagles in position to clinch the match.

Mercer however would secure wins at the top two positions to tie the match. Karissa Rhoades (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior High School) and Mackenzie Allen (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast High School) fell to Emily Krogman and Sophie Peel 21-6, 21-13 before Vanessa Benke (Toledo, Brazil/College of Central Florida) and Eleonora Kazarian (Tibilisi, Georgia/College of Central Florida) dropped a 21-12, 22-20 decision to Emma Peel and Tori Penrod.

Amanda Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia High School) and Ashley Glickert (Chesterfield, Mo/Parkway Central High School) determined the outcome of the match, claiming the win at No. 3 22-20, 19-21, 15-12 over Gretja Otten and Jessica Johnson.

FULL RESULTS
1) E. Peel/Penrod (Mercer) def. Benke/Kazarian (FGCU) 21-12, 22-20
2) Krogman/S. Peel (Mercer) def. Allen/Rhoades (FGCU) 21-16, 12-13
3) Carroll/Glickert (FGCU) def. Otten/Johnson (Mercer) 22-20, 19-21, 15-12
4) Wilcox/Aldrich (FGCU) def. Waliczek/James (Mercer) 13-21, 21-16, 15-13
5) Jordan/Moeller (FGCU) def. Kerr/MacGilvary (Mercer) 14-21, 12-19, 15-10
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 2, 1, 3

UNF 5, FGCU 0
The afternoon contest against the Ospreys proved to be tougher, with FGCU falling 5-0 despite four matches going to a third set. The Wilcox and Aldrich duo lost for just the second time this season to Chaney Howard and Ambre Desaulnay 21-15, 21-17. At No. 5, Moeller and Jordan secured the second set 21-14, but dropped the decisive third set, 15-12.

Rhoades teamed with Glickert at No. 3, winning the second set 24-22. The Eagles would fall in the final sets 15-13 however, falling behind in the match 3-0. Allen and Carroll won their first set 21-19 but were forced to play a third set against Kimberly Ferguson and Lauren Ford. The duo would ultimately fall 15-8 in the decisive game.

At No. 1 Benke and Kazarian were also forced to a third set after a 21-19 win in the first set but could not secure the win, losing 15-10 in the finale.

FULL RESULTS
1) Kinlaw/Crawshaw (UNF) def. Kazarian/Benke (FGCU) 19-21, 21-16, 15-10
2) Ferguon/Ford (UNF) def. Carroll/Allen (FGCU) 19-21, 21-15, 15-8
3) Miller/Raicevic (UNF) def. Rhoades/Glickert (FGCU) 21-19, 22-24, 15-13
4) Howard/Desaulnay (UNF) def. Wilcox/Aldrich (FGCU) 21-15, 21-17
5) Pase/Hoff (UNF) def. Jordan/Moeller (FGCU) 21-15, 14-21, 15-12
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 2, 1, 3

UP NEXT
The Eagles remain at home, welcoming Webber International to Estero. FGCU and Webber are scheduled to meet Thursday (March 31) at 4 p.m.

_{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.}