FORT MYERS, Fla. --- The No. 20 FGCU beach volleyball team (11-11) split a pair of matches against Mercer (W, 5-0) and Tampa (L, 4-1) in the Battle on the Bay on Saturday afternoon before having a third and final tilt against Eckerd called off due to lightning at the North Shore Sports Complex in St. Petersburg. The event had already been shortened to one day due to the threat of bad weather on Sunday.
 
The Eagles led Eckerd 2-0 with wins from Trinity Rosales and Jenna Banz at No. 5, as well as Maddison Parmelly (Rockwall, Texas/Rockwall Heath) and Lexie Hamilton (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier) at No. 3. All three other matches were still going when lightning and a heavy downpour started with FGCU just a few points away from clinching at No. 2 and a third set underway at No. 4.
 
"We started off very consistent and very solid, but by our second match, our serve receive broke down in the wind and we made too many errors to compete with a well-coached team like that," FGCU head coach Chris Sweat said. "As the season winds down and we look forward to our first home match next week, we will get back in a rhythm and finish the year out strong."
 
All five FGCU pairs picked up one win apiece over the two matches. The Green and Blue opened the day with a sweep of Mercer. The top four pairs produced two-set victories for FGCU, who also won at No. 5 by forfeit as Mercer was unable to field a team. In the next match against Tampa, Rosales (Wilmington, N.C./Eugene Ashley HS) and Banz (Cambridge, Ontario, Canada/Benedict Catholic Secondary/Hawaii) helped the Eagles pick up a split in the first wave, but Tampa won the remaining three pairs with four of those seven sets being decided by two points.
 
With her win in the opener against Mercer along with her partner Kacie Johnson, Kayla Whetstone produced her 59th career victory, which moves her within two of matching Karissa Rhoades (61, 2016-19) for the most victories in program history. Fellow senior, Giovanna Borgiotti, picked up her 55th win, which moves her within two of third place - currently held by Katie Puisis (57, 2016-19).

FGCU Career Wins

1.	61	Karissa Rhoades	2016-19	61-35	.635
2.	59	Kayla Whetstone	2018-present	59-22	.728
3.	57	Katie Puisis	2016-19	57-32	.640
4.	55	Giovanna Borgiotti	2017-present	55-47	.539
5.	50	Amanda Carroll	2016-19	50-42	.543

Johnson (Frisco, Texas/Lebanon Trail HS), meanwhile, produced her 15th victory of the season, which makes her just the fifth freshman in program history to reach that milestone. She is now just three victories shy of matching Kirstine Garder's rookie wins record of 18 that was set in 2019.

With her win, Rosales became the third freshman to reach double-digits in victories this year, joining Johnson (15) and Madie Lichty (Clemmons, N.C./West Forsyth) (11). Junior Emma Hansen (Trophy Club, Texas/Westlake Academy) picked up her 23rd career victory, which puts her in sole possession of 12th place on the career wins list. Fellow junior, Garder (Halden, Norway/Topvolley Norge) is now one win shy of matching Caroline Jordan (30, 2014-17) for 10th place.

Next up for the Eagles is a home doubleheader against Eckerd College on Wednesday at The ROC beginning at 11 a.m. Borgiotti (Vienna, Va./George C. Marshall HS) and Whetstone (Arlington, Texas/Arlington Lamar HS) will be honored as part of senior day, as well.
 
FGCU 5, Mercer 0
1. Giovanna Borgiotti/Kirstine Garder def. Gracie Garanich/Emilee Wissmach 21-14, 21-11
2. Kayla Whetstone/Kacie Johnson def. Elli Merchant/Olivia Boeve 21-18, 21-18
3. Lexie Hamilton/Maddison Parmelly def. Maddie Nunley/Kacy Ogden 21-17, 21-14
4. Emma Hansen/Madie Lichty def. Aggie Paskevic/Elena Sanfrey 21-6, 21-15
5. Did not compete (Mercer forfeit)
 
Tampa 4, FGCU 1
1. Julia Oswald/Rachel Rosequist (UT) def. Giovanna Borgiotti/Kirstine Garder 21-23, 27-25, 15-11
2. Valerie Rosequist/Melissa Elias (UT) def. Kayla Whetstone/Kacie Johnson 21-17, 22-20
3. Tatiana Gutierrez/Katie McKiel (UT) def. Maddison Parmelly/Lexie Hamilton 21-19, 21-18
4. Kiersten Anderson/Madison Brunick (UT) def. Emma Hansen/Madie Lichty 20-22, 21-18, 15-9
5. Trinity Rosales/Jenna Banz (FGCU) def. Claire Overton/Payton Brunick 21-19, 21-10
  
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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 15-11 record to open his head coaching tenure.
 
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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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