FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU swimming & diving team (1-1, 1-0 CCSA) earned its first dual victory of the season on Saturday afternoon, as the team defeated host UNF (0-1, 0-1 CCSA) by a score of 201-61 in Jacksonville. The Eagles picked up first-place finishes in all 14 of the meet's events and swept four throughout the day.
 
"It's great to get a chance to get on the road and compete," head coach Dave Rollins said. "Taking advantage of every opportunity that comes our way will continue to benefit us as we inch closer to the end of the season. There were a lot of encouraging races today and it was really exciting to see Anna [Hogan] perform the way she did. We are looking forward to getting in some great training and representing the Green & Blue over the course of the next few weeks."
 
Four different Eagles picked up multiple individual wins, boosting the team towards its overall triumph. Sophomore Hannah VanDress (Cape Coral, Fla./Bishop Verot) took home both the 1000- and 500-yard freestyles, while classmates Anna Hogan (Louisville, Ky./Dupont Manual School) and Julia Rodriguez (Gainesville, Fla./Buccholz HS) swept the breaststroke (100, 200) and butterfly (200, 100) events, respectively. Senior Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lancsoz Kornel Secondari Grammar School) touched the wall first in both the 200 Back and the 400 IM, rounding out the Green & Blue's top point scorers.
 
In addition to individual success, FGCU paced both relays. The quartet of sophomore Claire McAtee (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy), Halmai, junior Wiktoria Czarnecka (Lublin, Poland/Liceum NR 10 W Lublinie), and freshman Zuzanna Rabiniak (Radom, Poland/X Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace Mistrzostwa Sportowego W Lublinie) kicked off the meet with a dominant win in the 400 medley relay, besting second-place UNF by over 10 seconds. In the final event of the day, the 200-yard freestyle relay, Czarnecka, Rabiniak, McAtee and sophomore Hailey Jerew (Miami, Fla./Cutler Bay Senior High) swam a 1:39.40 to finish first.
 
FGCU's first sweep of the day came in the 200 Free, where the trio of junior Joely Merriman (Shawnee, Kan,/Shawnee Mission North/Arizona State), sophomore Sara Niepelova (Piestany, Slovenia/Gymnzaium Pierra de Coubertina/ECU) and junior Alexis Durlacher (Jacksonville, Fla./Florida Virtual School/Florida State) grabbed the top three spots. The three Eagles were separated by less than a second and were followed by fourth-place Halmai.
 
The momentum for the visiting team carried into the following event, the 100 Back, which the Eagles swept once again. Freshman Alicja Ulicka (Rybno, Poland/Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace Im.Wislawy Szymborskiej) led the way with a final time of 59.24, edging second-place classmate Emma Hixenbaugh (Louisville, Ky./Ballard HS) by half a second. McAtee finished third to complete the sweep.
 
The 100-yard breaststroke saw the Eagles pick up their third-consecutive sweep, thanks to the efforts of Hogan, Jerew and freshman Emily Merton (Jacksonville, Fla./Robert E. Lee HS). Hogan's time of 1:06.44 earned the sophomore her first individual win of the day.
 
Though the Green & Blue continued to win individual events, the final highlight of the day came in the 400 IM, where the team took the top four spots. Halmai touched the wall first with a final time of 4:32.23 and was followed by Hogan, Niepelova and freshman Rebecca Winn (Warwick, United Kingdom/The Kingsley School).
 
With today's victory, the Eagles have now extended their all-time advantage over the Ospreys to 14-0. FGCU is set to host UNF in Fort Myers later this month (Jan. 29 & 30) in a meet that will close out the team's regular season.

For complete coverage of FGCU swimming & diving, follow the Eagles on Twitter (@FGCU_WSwimDive), Instagram (@FGCU_WSwimDive) and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU swimming & diving or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

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 33-21-1 (.609) dual meet record, which includes an 12-2 (.857) 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.

SUSTAINING FLIGHT 
To help offset the financial impact of COVID-19, FGCU Athletics has launched the Sustaining Flight Fundraiser and Auction. The fundraising campaign will help mitigate operational revenue loss and the additional expenses incurred as a result of COVID-19 protocols. All funds raised during the campaign will go to support areas that directly impact student-athletes.
 
In lieu of hosting the annual Night at the Nest gala this year, one of FGCU's most successful fundraising events, the department will be hosting a virtual, online auction from Monday, Nov. 30 through Friday, Dec. 4. Fans and supporters will be able to bid on exclusive memorabilia, trip packages, unique event experiences and more. For more information, visit www.fgcuathletics.com/sustainingflight.

E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!

#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-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 (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. 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--