ATLANTA, Ga. - Karissa Rhoades will look to inch closer to history as the FGCU beach volleyball team (2-2) travels to the Peach State to battle No. 18 Georgia State (8-4) and No. 10 South Carolina (5-5) on Tuesday. The matches will be part of the Day of Duals hosted by Georgia State.

Rhoades (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior HS) sits at 44 career victories, which is just two shy of matching the current record held by Madi Wilcox (2014-17). Her partner, Katherine Puisis, currently sits in third place with 40 as the duo is on pace to easily finish the season at 1-2 in the record book. The pair also holds the top two spots in career winning percentage.

Full Schedule
10 a.m. - No. 2 Southern Cal vs. No. 10 South Carolina
12:30 p.m. - No. 18 Georgia State vs. No. 2 Southern Cal
3 p.m. FGCU vs. No. 10 South Carolina
5 p.m. No. 18 Georgia State vs. FGCU
*Start times are not fixed. Each dual will begin 30 minutes after the prior round is complete to ensure adequate warm up time and a break for the officials.

Opponent Capsules
South Carolina will enter the event with a .500 record but all five of their losses are to ranked teams - No. 3 Florida State (5-0 and 4-1), No. 6 Cal Poly (4-1), No. 7 LSU (3-2), No. 18 FAU (4-1). They also knocked off LSU 3-2 on March 2. The Gamecocks have won two in a row.

Georgia State (8-4) has won four straight. They will also battle second-ranked and two-time national champion USC (10-1) at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The Panthers went 6-0 at the GSU Beach complex last year and own a 16-1 home record over the past three seasons.

Series History
FGCU is 1-2 all-time against South Carolina, with the lone win coming April 9, 2016 at the Fiesta on the Siesta. Meanwhile, the Eagles are 0-1 against Georgia State.

Last Time Out
As a team, the Eagles opened the season by splitting four games in the Battle on the Bay hosted by Eckerd College in St. Petersburg over the weekend. In addition to the No. 2 pair of Rhoades and Puisis (Mason, Ohio/William Mason HS), two other pairs also went 3-1 - Snowy Burnam and Kayla Whetstone at No. 3 and Candace Lacour and Giovanna Borgiotti at No. 4.

Next Up
After Tuesday, the Green and Blue will open its home slate with a doubleheader against Eckerd College on Wednesday, March 20 at 2 p.m.

Notes
For those looking to attend Tuesday's event, admission to Georgia State's Day of Duals is free and parking is available for $3 in the G Deck with entrances located on Collins Street, Courtland Street and Central Avenue.
 
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_BeachVB.

COACH BOTSFORD 
Head coach Matt Botsford, who is also the head coach of the FGCU indoor volleyball program, is in his sixth season at the helm of the FGCU beach volleyball program in 2019. Despite a 48-60 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 is in just its eighth season in 2019 and has an overall record of 59-75. 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.