DELAND, Fla. – The No. 2 seed FGCU beach volleyball team (14-10) dropped a 4-1 match to No. 3 North Florida, but bounced back to defeat No. 4 Mercer 3-2 to stay alive in the ASUN tournament at Cooper Beach this afternoon.

With the victory, the Eagles advance in the loser's bracket to the semifinals where they will face Jacksonville at 11 a.m. on Sunday. With a win, FGCU would face the loser of the 9 a.m. matchup between No. 1 Stetson and No. 3 North Florida at 1 p.m. The single match, winner-take-all championship will occur at 3 p.m.

"North Florida really controlled things from the service line," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "Our first contact was a struggle, and we could never put any pressure on them with our third contact. Conversely, our serving needs to be much tougher as UNF passed extremely well and played in system a majority of the match."

The hottest pair on the team, Giovanna Borgiotti and Ashley Glickert, won two more matches at No. 3 to push their winning streak to seven. In the opener, they were the lone team to pick up a win, and they did it in come-from-behind fashion, 18-21, 21-17, 15-13. Following that, they swept Mercer 21-11, 21-12 for the match-clinching third victory.

Borgiotti (Vienna, Va./George C. Marshall HS) and Glickert (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central HS) picked up the clincher just seconds after Amanda Carroll and Mackenzie Allen breezed past Mercer 21-16, 21-8 in the No. 1 pair.

The No. 4 duo of Snowy Burnam and Kayla Whetstone bounced back from a heartbreaking loss in the opening match against North Florida to sweep Mercer 21-11, 21-15 in the finale. Against UNF, they came-from-behind to win a thrilling opening set 23-21, but ultimately fell 15-12 in the third set.

"We were much improved in overall ball control against Mercer and that played a big role in what turned out to be a close match," Botsford said.

With each of their victories, the duos of Burnam-Whetstone (15-9) and Borgiotti-Glickert (15-9) each pushed their season win totals to 15. For Burnam (Palm City, Fla./Jensen Beach HS) and Whetstone (Arlington, Texas/Arlington Lamar HS), they each tied the program's win record for a freshman with 15, which was set by Elisa Ann Aldrich in 2016. Borgiotti and Glickert, meanwhile, each increased their career-high total.

Both of those pairs also inched closer to Karissa Rhoades and Katherine Puisis for the team-high in wins. It was a tough day for the Green and Blue's junior all-conference duo as Rhoades (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior HS) and Puisis (Mason, Ohio/William Mason HS) dropped both matches – 21-14, 22-20 to North Florida and 8-21, 21-18, 15-13 to Mercer – and fell to 16-8 overall this year.

"Heading into tomorrow, we're going to have to play much cleaner to put ourselves in position to advance," Botsford said. "Serving and passing is going to be the keys moving forward."

In the opener against North Florida, the Eagles were hurt by a couple heartbreaking losses that could have swung the match in their favor. Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia HS) and Allen (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) won their opening set, but fell 15-13 in in the third. The other was the loss by Burnam and Whetstone at No. 4 where they fell in the final set after coming from behind to win the first.

At No. 5, Kaitlan Krivdo (Hope Mills, N.C./Grays Creek HS) and Cortney VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) dropped both matches in straight sets.

NOTES

With today's win, FGCU is now just one win shy of matching the program record for most in a season (15, 2017).

Carroll and Allen are now 3-6 all-time in ASUN tournament play. They are the most experienced postseason team for the Green and Blue. Including her experience prior to teaming with Carroll, Allen has five career wins in the tournament.

Borgiotti and Glickert, meanwhile, improved to 4-2 all-time in the ASUN tournament, which is the best on the team. For Glickert, she now has five wins in the tournament, including her previous partners.

Rhoades and Puisis are now 2-4 in tournament history, although Rhoades is 4-4 including previous partners. Puisis has three total wins.

As a team, FGCU is now 4-1 all-time against Mercer in the ASUN tournament, while they are 2-6 against North Florida. Tomorrow's opponent, Jacksonville, is 1-2 all-time against FGCU in the postseason.

Stetson and North Florida have split the six all-time ASUN tournaments with the Hatters taking three of the past four. FGCU (2017) and Mercer (2015) are the only two schools besides Stetson and North Florida to have a runner-up finish, as well.

HOW TO WATCH, FOLLOW
Every tournament match will be aired on ESPN + via the ESPN app, which requires a $4.99/month fee to watch. For more info on how to watch, visit here. For new subscribers, there is a 7-day free trial option with the ability to cancel at any time. Fans can find out more about that in the link.

Fans can use the link here to find the direct links for video and stats for every match of the tournament.

Also, as a heads up, the following FGCU spring contests will also be aired on ESPN +:

Apr. 22 – Softball @ Jacksonville
Apr. 22 – ASUN Men's and Women's Tennis Championship
Apr. 28 – Softball @ Lipscomb (DH)
May 9-12 – ASUN Softball Championship
May 17 – Baseball @ Lipscomb
May 18 – Baseball @ Lipscomb
May 19 – Baseball @ Lipscomb
May 23-26 – ASUN Baseball Championship

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 45-57 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 in just its seventh year at FGCU and has an overall record of 56-72. 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.