FORT MYERS, Fla. - The FGCU beach volleyball team (7-7) will host Florida Southern (10-8) in its regular season home finale at 4 p.m. on Tuesday at The Recreation Outdoor Complex (ROC) on campus. Admission is free.
Prior to the match, the program will honor its three seniors -
Katherine Puisis,
Karissa Rhoades and
Amanda Carroll. The trio comprises the winningest senior class in program history, having notched 48 team victories in three-plus seasons and leading the Eagles to double-digit victories in each year so far. Furthermore, they have a chance to finish 1-2-3 in career wins by the time the season is over.
This will be the second all-time match played at The ROC after the Green and Blue knocked off Tampa 4-1 on March 16 of last season.
Storylines
Rhoades (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior HS), who is already FGCU's all-time career wins leader, can become the first player in program history to reach 50 career victories on Tuesday. Her partner,
Puisis (Mason, Ohio/William Mason HS), sits at 45 and is one shy of moving into a tie for second-place. The senior duo is 8-6 this year at the No. 2 pair.
Meanwhile,
Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia HS) now has 39 career victories, which moves her past
Mackenzie Allen (2015-18) and
Ashley Glickert (2015-18) for sole possession of fourth-place on the program's career wins list. Carroll has 30 of her wins at the No. 1 pair, which is the most in program history.
Top 5 In Career Wins
49 -
Karissa Rhoades, 2016-present
46 - Madi Wilcox, 2014-17
45 -
Katherine Puisis, 2016-present
39 -
Amanda Carroll, 2016-present
38 -
Mackenzie Allen, 2015-18
38 -
Ashley Glickert, 2015-18
Puisis, Rhoades and Carroll have the potential to give this year's team the top three players in career wins by season's end. Rhoades is one of just three players, along with Puisis and Madi Wilcox, to have 20 or more career wins at multiple pairs. She is the program's all-time leader in wins at No. 2 (23) and No. 3 (26), while Wilcox leads the way at No. 4 (25) and No. 5 (20).
Outside of the senior trio, FGCU's sophomore pair of
Snowy Burnam (Palm City, Fla./Jensen Beach HS) and
Kayla Whetstone (Arlington, Texas/Arlington Lamar HS) have jumped out to a team-best 11-3 start this year. They produced one of the Green and Blue's two victories against No. 10 Stetson last week, which gives them three over ranked teams in their career together.
The other win against the Hatters came from
Giovanna Borgiotti and
Candace Lacour at the No. 4 pair. The duo is tied with Puisis and Rhoades for the second-best record on the team at 8-6. For
Borgiotti (Vienna, Va./George C. Marshall HS), she now has two career wins over ranked teams, while
Lacour (Buckeye, Ariz./Verrado HS) has three total in her NCAA career - two of which came during her time at FAU.
Florida Southern Preview
The Mocs (10-8) will enter Tuesday's tilt having won six straight matches following their wins over Lincoln Memorial and Eckerd last week. Their win total doubles last year's total, and they are led by the duo of Haley Goodrich and Celia Greco, who are undefeated (11-0) at the No. 4 pair. Although they're 1-5 at No. 3, they'll carry a 10-match winning streak into Tuesday's matchup.
Last Time Out
FGCU is coming off a pair of losses to No. 10 Stetson on Wednesday that marked the beginning of ASUN play. Both matches were close, though, with the finale featuring four pairs that went three sets. The duos of Whetstone/Burnam and Borgiotti/Lacour each picked up victories over ranked teams with one coming in each match.
Next Up
The Eagles will travel to Tampa on Saturday for matchups against Florida Southern (12 p.m.) and Tampa (2 p.m.) at the Tampa Beach Volleyball Complex.
FOLLOW ALONG
For up-to-the minute information and a behind-the-scenes look at the FGCU beach 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. He has compiled a 48-35 record over the past three-plus seasons (54-64 overall) while improving or steadying 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 65-79. 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.
#FEEDFGCU
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 raise awareness.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 75 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 11+ seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just seven+ seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 35 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including both men's and women's soccer again in 2018. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best 6th-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the Spring, 2018 and had an ASUN Conference and State of Florida best five teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
