St. Petersburg, Fla. - On the heels of a strong start to the season, the FGCU beach volleyball team (3-1) will look to continue momentum with a 3 p.m. road matchup against Eckerd College on Wednesday.

It will be the fifth meeting all-time between the two programs dating back three years. The Eagles are 4-0, including an 18-2 record in pairings.

"Right now any opportunity to compete is going to help us progress faster," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "We identified some deficiencies from the weekend that needed attention, so that has been our focus the last couple of days. Now the challenge is to apply that as quickly as possible to our play in hopes that we can put ourselves in good position in every match."

The Green and Blue are coming off an historic weekend for the program as the Eagles went 3-1, including the first-ever win over a ranked opponent with a 3-2 defeat of No. 15 FAU. The team's lone loss was to No. 11 Georgia State. Freshmen No. 4 pair Snowy Burnam (Palm City, Fla./Jensen Beach HS) and Kayla Whetstone (Arlington, Texas/Arlington Lamar HS) went 3-1 and became the first duo in program history to win ASUN Conference pair of the week recognition.

Eckerd is currently 5-4 overall, but they have two matches scheduled for Tuesday evening. They've won four of the past five, played No. 15 FAU close before falling 3-2 and even took one from No. 11 Georgia State before dropping the match 4-1.

Following Wednesday, FGCU will host the University of Tampa on Friday at 3 p.m. It will be held at The ROC, representing the first time the team has played on campus. Typically, home matches are held at the Estero Rec Center.

FOLLOW ALONG
For up-to-the minute information and a behind-the-scenes look at the FGCU volleyball program, follow on Twitter at @FGCU_BeachVB, on Facebook at /FGCUVolleyball and on Instagram at @FGCU_VB.

COACH BOTSFORD
Head coach Matt Botsford, who is also the head coach of the FGCU indoor volleyball program, is in his fifth season at the helm of the FGCU beach volleyball program in 2018. In his tenure, the team has compiled a 35-47 record, and he's improved the team's win total each season. In fact, he led the program to 11 wins in 2016 and 15 in 2017 - both of which were new records for most wins in a season. The beach volleyball program is entering just its seventh year at FGCU and has an overall record of 44-61. 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. A former professional volleyball player, he is a 1998 graduate of Tri-State University (now Trine), where he earned a degree in Social Studies Education. He earned a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Indianapolis.

SUPPORT THE CAUSE
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help.