BOCA RATON, Fla. – On a cold, windy and rainy night at the FAU Aquatics Complex, the FGCU swimming & diving team dropped its dual against the FAU Owls. The Eagles fell by a score of 151-92. FGCU picked up four first-place finishes throughout Friday night's 13 events.

Junior Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary) led the Eagles (8-6-1, 4-1 CCSA), earning a pair of top finishes in the 100 IM, as well as the 200-yard butterfly. Senior Elizabeth White (Fort Myers, Fla.) was the only other individual to win her event, as she took home the 200 Breast.

The quartet of sophomore Wiktoria Czarnecka (Lublin, Poland), freshman Julia Rodriguez (Gainesville, Fla.), freshman Lucija Sulenta (Zagreb, Croatia) and senior Liz Zeiger (Cumberland, R.I.) rounded out the top scoring for FGCU with a victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The team out-touched FAU by just 0.10 seconds to earn the win.

"We came out flat and let the elements, cold, wind and rain get the better of us tonight," head coach Dave Rollins said. "Ultimately, we are a better team than what we saw in the pool or on the boards today. It's disappointing, but one meet doesn't define our season. It was encouraging to still see strong performances throughout the meet. Lizzy (White) had a hard-fought win in the breast, Julia (Rodriguez) swam her fastest non-championship time in the backstroke, Liz (Zeiger) anchored our relays well and Tori (Czarnecka) stepped up and had strong relay swims. I have also seen a lot of improvement from Meghan Schienvar (Holmdel, N.J.) that bodes well for our next few meets."

FGCU had a handful of second-place finishes in the early events to remain competitive with FAU. Sophomore Joely Merriman (Shawnee Mission, Kan.) placed second in the 200 Free, Czarnecka finished second in the 50 Free and Zeiger missed a first-place finish by just 0.02 seconds in the 200 IM.

"On the boards, we faced the elements and our ladies competed in new dives, which will serve them well come CCSAs," Rollins added. "There are a lot of lessons we have to learn as a young team and we need to believe in ourselves and what we are capable of. That will ultimately define how we perform at the end of the season."

While the teams went back-and-forth early in the meet, the Owls (3-2, 0-0 C-USA) picked up crucial points in the final few events to run away with the win.

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HEAD COACH DAVE ROLLINS
Head coach Dave Rollins is only the second coach in program history. He was hired Sept. 1, 2016 and owns a 32-18-1 (.640) dual meet record, which includes an 11-2 (.846) mark against CCSA opponents, in his fourth season. Rollins guided FGCU to back-to-back CCSA titles (2017, 2018), as well as the program's fourth-straight title in 2018, marking the ninth championship in 10 years. In addition, he has been awarded CCSA Coach of the Year in two of his seasons at the helm. Previously, Rollins was the associate head men's swimming coach at The Ohio State University. Rollins brings over a decade of coaching experience to The Nest, which includes helping to develop Olympians, NCAA Champions and All-Americans, along with multiple conference champions. A native of Brockton, Mass., he was a standout collegiate swimmer in his own right and was inducted into the University of Arizona's Hall of Fame in 2017, as a nine-time NCAA All-American, national champion, school record holder and team captain.

#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 80 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 12 seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just eight seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 36 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. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2018 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for twenty consecutive semesters. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.

--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--