BOCA RATON, Fla. --- The No. 20 FGCU beach volleyball team (9-7) will hit the road once again this weekend to participate in the Sandy Owls Invite hosted by Florida Atlantic University on Friday and Saturday.
Nationally ranked for the second consecutive week, the Eagles are scheduled to meet Tampa and Palm Beach Atlantic on Friday before closing out the weekend against North Florida and No. 12 Florida Atlantic on Saturday.
Kayla Whetstone (54) and
Giovanna Borgiotti (52) will continue their chase for the top spot on the program's career wins list as they trail only Karissa Rhoades (61, 2016-19) and Katie Puisis (57, 2016-19).
Kirstine Garder (Halden, Norway/TopVolley Norge) is also four wins away from moving into the top 10 in career triumphs as she sits at 26 victories, while
Emma Hansen moved into the top 15 last weekend with her 21st win.
Whetstone (Arlington, Texas/Arlington Lamar HS) won her sixth career match against a ranked opponent last weekend, which tied Madi Wilcox (2014-17) for the most in program history.
Borgiotti (Vienna, Va./George C. Marshall HS) has four victories over ranked teams and sits third on the list, although several others are close behind with three each, including
Kacie Johnson,
Hansen (Trophy Club, Texas/Westlake Academy),
Maddison Parmelly and
Lexie Hamilton.
In fact, this year's team already has the single-season program record for most individual pair wins over ranked teams as they've compiled 11 of FGCU's 31 such all-time victories.
Hamilton (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS),
Johnson (Frisco, Texas/Lebanon Trail HS),
Parmelly (Rockwall, Texas/Rockwall Heath HS) and Whetstone all lead the team with 10-6 individual records this year.
The Green and Blue defeated Tampa (3-2) and Palm Beach Atlantic (4-1) earlier this season, while they will meet UNF for the first time in 2021. Meanwhile, this will be the third matchup with the nationally-ranked Owls after FGCU nearly pulled off the upset last week before falling 3-2. On a related note, the Eagles keep knocking on the door of consistent wins over ranked programs as their last three losses in head-to-head matchups have resulted in 3-2 defeats.
Following this weekend, the Eagles will compete in the Eckerd College Battle on the Bay April 10-11 and the UNF Classic April 17-18 to conclude the regular season. The ASUN tournament will be held April 23-25 in DeLand, Fla.
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
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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 13-7 record to open his head coaching tenure.
#FEEDFGCU
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ABOUT FGCU
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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