FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU beach volleyball team will be deeper and better than it has ever been following the addition of a pair of transfers –
Candace Lacour (Florida Atlantic) and
Kaity Reed (Southeastern).
"The addition of these two talented players to our program will immediately bolster the depth and quality of our roster," FGCU head beach volleyball coach
Matt Botsford said.
Lacour (Buckeye, Ariz./Verrado HS), who sat out the 2018 season, will have three years of eligibility left beginning as a redshirt sophomore in 2019. As a freshman, she went 23-7 at FAU while teaming with Gabrielle Dischler and Carly Scarborough.
After winning a pair of matches with Scarborough to open the season, Lacour teamed with Dischler to produce a win over No. 10 LSU on March 4 and went on to win 13 consecutive matches with her, including a win over No. 3 UCLA on March 31 at the No. 2 pair. In the postseason, her and Dischler went 3-1 at the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Tournament, which helped her earn a spot on the all-tournament team.
Lacour, who was born in Baton Rouge, La., is a 2016 graduate of Verrado High School in Buckeye, Arizona. While there, she was a three-year varsity starter for the volleyball team and was coached by Ryan Mariano while playing club for RPM Sand. She also reached the Gold Bracket during many beach volleyball tournaments and broke the school record in the long jump.
"Candace is a player with a lot of valuable experience, having competed collegiately at a very high level in the past," Botsford said. "She possesses a very good understanding of the game and her versatility, both offensively and defensively, will provide us a lot of flexibility. She is a proven winner and a very focused young woman who I expect will make an impact right away."
Reed (Warsaw, Ind/Whitko HS), who will have four years of beach eligibility remaining, was a force on the indoor team at Southeastern University in 2017, where she produced a season-high 22 kills in her collegiate debut en route to 16 matches with double-digit kills. She finished the season with a team-high 328 kills along with 36 aces, 285 digs and 38 blocks (10 solo). Following the year, she was named First Team All-Sun Conference, Sun Conference Freshman of the Year and Academic All-Sun Conference.
Prior to Southeastern, Reed was a 2017 graduate of Whitko High School in Warsaw, Ind., where she tallied 592 kills and led the team in aces (54), blocks (56) and was second in digs (411). Her performance helped lead the team to the program's first-ever sectional championship, and she finished as one of the best players in program history – holding all-time records in kills in a season, kills in a career, digs in a season, digs in a career and career blocks.
"Kaity just recently decided to make the full-time move to the beach game," Botsford said. "She is a tremendous athlete who will develop quickly in an environment where her focus is on the sand. She has a great arm and is a physical presence along the net which coupled with her other skills, will provide us a great option within our line-ups."
Despite losing a pair of important seniors in
Mackenzie Allen and
Ashley Glickert, the Green and Blue now have six newcomers for the 2019 beach volleyball squad including Lacour and Reed. The others are:
Camryn Bossinas (Roswell, Ga./Roswell HS),
Lexi Fitzpatrick (Tallahassee, Fla./Lincoln HS),
Kirstine Garder (Halden, Norway/Topvolley Norge HS) and
Emma Hansen (Trophy Club, Texas/Westlake Academy).
Entering its eighth season of existence, the 2019 FGCU beach volleyball team will be the largest in program history, topping the 2016 (15) and 2015 (14) teams.
The Eagles won a program-record 15 matches for the second consecutive season in 2018. The No. 2 junior duo of
Karissa Rhoades (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior HS) and
Katherine Puisis (Mason, Ohio/William Mason HS) broke the program's single season wins record with 17.
Glickert (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central HS) and sophomore
Giovanna Borgiotti (Vienna, Va./George C. Marshall HS) won a program record eight consecutive matches at No. 3 to finish the year and tallied 16 wins.
The No. 4 pair of
Kayla Whetstone (Arlington, Texas/Arlington Lamar HS) and
Snowy Burnam won a freshman record 16 matches.
Allen (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) teamed with
Amanda Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia HS) to tie a career-high with 12 wins at the No. 1 pair. The team also captured the program's first win over a ranked opponent, while
Burnam (Palm City, Fla./Jensen Beach HS) became just the second student-athlete in NCAA history to win her conference's freshman of the year award in both indoor and beach volleyball.
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 Matthew Botsford, who is also the head coach of the FGCU indoor volleyball program, will enter his sixth season at the helm of the FGCU beach volleyball program in 2019. Despite a 46-58 record in his tenure, he's improved or steadied the team's win total each season. In fact, he led the program to 11 wins in 2016, 15 in 2017 and 15 more in 2018 - all three of which either tied or set new records for most wins in a season. The beach volleyball program will enter just its eighth season in 2019 and has an overall record of 57-73. 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.
