MIAMI, Fla. --- The No. 20 FGCU beach volleyball team (9-5) notched a pair of wins on Friday, knocking off Florida Memorial and Tulane to open the FIU Surf 'N Turf at the FIU Beach Volleyball Complex.
After sweeping Florida Memorial behind five two-set matches, the Eagles produced a high-quality win over Tulane, who was receiving votes in the latest version of the AVCA national rankings. After a close two-set victory at No. 4 by
Madie Lichty and
Emma Hansen, the No. 5 duo of
Jenna Banz and
Trinity Rosales pulled out a come-from-behind win at No. 5 to give FGCU a 2-0 lead.
The Green Wave didn't quit, though, as they swept the No. 3 court before coming from behind for a three-set win at No. 1. Meanwhile, Tulane forced a third set on the deciding court at No. 2 by winning five straight points to close the second.
Kayla Whetstone and
Kacie Johnson, however, held strong for the 15-10 win in the third to clinch the match.
"I was really impressed with the way we came out in our second match today," FGCU head coach
Chris Sweat said. "We knew it was going to be a long, point-for-point strategic game the entire time and to start the match up 2-0 was big for us. There were so many close games where it all came down to one or two points per set, so I was very pleased to get the win today."
In the chase for the program's all-time wins record,
Whetstone (Arlington, Texas/Arlington Lamar HS) inched ahead of
Giovanna Borgiotti (Vienna, Va./George C. Marshall HS) for sole possession of third place.
Another tough day lies ahead for the Eagles, who will face No. 12 Florida Atlantic and No. 13 Florida International at 9:45 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively, on Saturday to close out the event.
No. 20 FGCU 5, Florida Memorial 0
1.
Giovanna Borgiotti/Kirstine Garder def. Biancaliz Cruz/Keisha Santana 21-4, 21-9
2.
Kayla Whetstone/Kacie Johnson def. Agustina Busque/Adriana Soto 21-5, 21-10
3.
Maddison Parmelly/Lexie Hamilton def. Olivia Dodd/Azmabeth Infante 21-5, 21-9
4.
Madie Lichty/Emma Hansen def. Rafaela Nogueria/Jessenia Bonilla 21-7, 21-4
5.
Trinity Rosales/Elizabeth Richmond def. Alanis Santana/Sammyra Albarron 21-9, 23-21
No. 20 FGCU 3, Tulane 2
1. Kendall Peters/Eva Torruella (TUL) def.
Giovanna Borgiotti/Kirstine Garder 12-21, 21-13, 15-12
2.
Kacie Johnson/Kayla Whetstone (FGCU) def. Tarin Mergener/Allie Olsonoski 21-19, 20-22, 15-10
3. Samantha Mehlman/Addison Hermstad (TUL) def.
Maddison Parmelly/Lexie Hamilton 21-14, 21-18
4.
Madie Lichty/Emma Hansen (FGCU) def. Avery Arellano/Lara Torruella 24-22, 21-19
5.
Jenna Banz/Trinity Rosales (FGCU) def. Maddie Speicher/Gabriella Becerra 18-21, 21-15, 15-10
For complete coverage of the beach volleyball program, follow the Eagles on Twitter and Instagram at @FGCU_BeachVB, on Facebook at /fgcubeachvb and online at FGCUathletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU beach volleyball or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting
www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
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COACH SWEAT
Chris Sweat is in his second season as head coach of the FGCU beach volleyball program after spending the prior five seasons as an assistant coach. A member of VolleyballMag.com's Under 40 Coaching Hotshots list in January 2020, he led the Eagles to a 4-0 start in 2020 prior to the Covid-19 shutdown and has compiled a 13-5 record to open his head coaching tenure.
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FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 85 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 40 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) 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 in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 23 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, and 2020 Fall 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.
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