ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The FGCU beach volleyball team will open its 2019 season in Eckerd College's Battle On The Bay at North Shore Courts this weekend.
 
The Eagles will compete against Saint Leo, Arizona State, University of Tennessee at Martin and Tampa over the two-day event. Arizona State is in the receiving votes section of the latest AVCA national poll.

It will be the first-ever matchup for the Green and Blue against Arizona State and UT Martin. They're 1-0 against Tampa after a 4-1 win last year, and they are 4-1 all-time against Eckerd dating back to 2015.

FGCU will feature preseason all-conference selections Karissa Rhoades, Katherine Puisis and Giovanna Borgiotti this season. Puisis (Mason, Ohio/William Mason HS) and Rhoades (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior HS) broke the program's single-season wins record last year with 17, while Borgiotti (Vienna, Va./George C. Marshall HS) is the only player in program history with 10 or more wins in each of her first two collegiate seasons, and she's done it at multiple pairs - 14 at No. 3 and 12 at No. 2.

Other returners include Kayla Whetstone (Arlington, Texas/Arlington Lamar HS) and Snowy Burnam, who were named to the ASUN's All-Freshman Team last year. Burnam (Palm City, Fla./Jensen Beach HS) became just the second player in NCAA history to be named her conference's freshman of the year in both indoor and beach volleyball (Kathryn Plummer, Stanford).
 
Amanda Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia HS) will return to anchor the No. 1 pair, while Cortney VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) and Alayna Ryan (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS) will also be back.

New to the team will be Kirstine Garder (Halden, Norway/Topvolley Norge), Candace Lacour, Camryn Bossinas (Roswell, Ga./Roswell HS) and Emma Hansen (Trophy Club, Texas/Westlake Academy). All of those players are freshmen, except Lacour (Buckeye, Ariz./Verrado HS), who transferred in from Florida Atlantic.
 
Friday's Schedule
Tampa vs UT Martin, 10 a.m.
Arizona State vs North Florida - 11 a.m.
Eckerd vs UT Martin - 12 p.m.
FGCU vs Saint Leo - 1 p.m.
Tampa vs Webber - 2 p.m.
Eckerd vs North Florida - 3 p.m.
FGCU vs Arizona State - 4 p.m.
 
Saturday's Schedule
Tampa vs North Florida, 10 a.m.
Arizona State vs UT Martin, 11 a.m.
Tampa vs FGCU, 12 p.m.
Saint Leo vs North Florida, 1 p.m.
Arizona State vs Eckerd, 2 p.m.
Saint Leo vs Webber, 3 p.m.
UT Martin vs FGCU, 4 p.m.
Eckerd vs Webber, 5 p.m.

Opponent Capsules
Saint Leo (3-6) is in its first year with a beach volleyball program. Three of those losses came to ranked teams - No. 10 FIU, No. 17 Stetson and No. 13 Georgia State. They have won two straight - both against UT Martin on Wednesday.

UT Martin (2-6) is in the midst of a 9-day, 12-match stretch in Florida. The Skyhawks recently completed their beach volleyball facility and feature eight underclassmen. Junior Hannah Phillips is the only player with NCAA beach volleyball experience.
 
Tampa (3-5) is also a young program as the Spartans are in just their second year. Four of their five losses have come to ranked teams - No. 18 Tulane, No. 9 South Carolina, No. 6 Cal Poly and No. 3 Florida State. They have won three of the past four, including a win over Jacksonville (5-0) on March 2.

Arizona State (3-3) is in its seventh year of existence. They defeated No. 16 Grand Canyon on Feb. 23 and lost to No. 15 Loyola Marymount, No. 1 UCLA and No. 11 California. In their most recent match, they knocked off Washington 5-0 in Tucson, Ariz.

ASUN Growth, Division Split
This past summer, the ASUN announced the additions of Austin Peay, Jacksonville State and Morehead State as affiliate members of the conference for beach volleyball. Those three teams competed as independent programs in the NCAA the past several seasons and will join new ASUN member North Alabama in bringing the conference to 10 members and a division split. The North Division will feature Coastal Carolina, Austin Peay, Jacksonville State, Morehead State and North Alabama. The South Division will feature FGCU, Jacksonville, Mercer, North Florida and Stetson.

In terms of the postseason, the top team from each division will automatically qualify for the ASUN tournament. They will be joined by four at-large participants with selection and seeding done by the ASUN office, in conjunction with the same process currently employed by the NCAA.
 
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, 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.