EMERSON, Ga. – With two wins on the first day of the 2016 Atlantic Sun Beach Volleyball Championships, the FGCU beach volleyball team continued to take the program to new levels. The No. 3 seeded Eagles (11-6) opened the day with a 4-1 win over No. 6 Coastal Carolina (3-10), setting up a meeting with the No. 2 UNF Ospreys (20-9). FGCU upset the co-regular season champions 3-2, advancing to play No. 1 Stetson Saturday afternoon.

"Our team is playing with a lot of confidence right now and with the way the match unfolded, that was a big factor in closing things out versus UNF," said head coach Matt Botsford. "Both our No. 2s and No. 3s were involved in tight third sets and they continued to play aggressively the whole way. We are looking forward to tomorrow and know we will have to continue to execute at a high level against a very talented Stetson team."

FGCU 4, COASTAL CAROLINA 1
The Eagles cruised to a 4-1 win over the Chanticleers to open the A-Sun Championships. All-Freshman Team member Elisa Anne Aldrich (Charleston, S.C./Wando High School) and All-Academic honoree Madi Wilcox (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein High School) began the day with a 21-16, 21-9 victory at No. 4.

Ashley Glickert (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central High School) and Karissa Rhoades (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior High School) then tallied a 21-19, 21-17 win at No. 3 and FGCU's No. 5 team of Leigh Pudwill (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial High School/Northern Iowa) and Katherine Puisis (Mason, Ohio/William Mason High School) earned a 21-12, 21-16 win.

FGCU split the top-two spots, suffering a loss at No. 1. Vanessa Benke (Toledo, Brazil/College of Central Florida) and Eleonora Kazarian (Tibilisi, Georgia/College of Central Florida) fell 21-15, 16-21, 15-8 but they were picked up by Amanda Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia High School) and Mackenzie Allen (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast High School). The No. 2 duo won 21-12 in both sets in the 4-1 FGCU win.

The victory set up a match with UNF later in the day, a team FGCU had never beaten.

FGCU 3, UNF 2
The final match of day one proved to be a classic in favor of the Green and Blue. UNF took an early 1-0 lead as Benke and Kazarian were defeated 21-13, 21-19 at No. 1. FGCU fell behind 2-0 when Pudwill and Puisis were defeated 21-15, 21-18 at No. 5.

The Eagles began their comeback with a critical win at No. 4. Aldrich and Wilcox won their first set 21-16 and kept FGCU's hopes alive with a 21-11 win in the second set.

Trailing 2-1, the matches at No. 2 and No. 3 were entering a third set. The No. 2 duo of Carroll and Allen split the first two sets by 21-18 scores. In the third, the Eagle duo pushed the Green and Blue to the brink of victory with a 15-9 win.

Moments later, Rhoades and Glickert sealed the dramatic victory. After dropping the first set 21-19, Rhoades and Glickert bounced back to claim the second 24-22. It would take extra points in the third set but Glickert and Rhoades pulled away late to win 16-14, sending FGCU through to the next round to face Stetson.

UP NEXT
The Eagles face the top-seeded Stetson Hatters Saturday at 3:30 p.m. for the opportunity to play for the tournament championship. Should the Eagles win, their next match would be Sunday at 3 p.m. However if FGCU loses to Stetson, the Eagles would face either Jacksonville, UNF, Mercer or Coastal Carolina Sunday at 11 a.m.

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.