DeLAND, Fla. – The opening weekend of the season concluded on Saturday afternoon as the No. 20 FGCU beach volleyball team split the final day of the Stetson Spring Fling at the Cooper Beach Courts. The Eagles defeated Mercer, 5-0, before falling 4-1 to No. 19 Stetson. FGCU moved to 2-2 on the year after also splitting its matches on Friday.
"We had to make some lineup changes today, but overall I was happy with the play. Our first match was very clean and I thought Skylar stepped up big time for us," said head coach
Chris Sweat. "We had our chances at certain points in certain sets but made too many errors in the second match and you cannot do that against a team like Stetson. Overall, it was a good weekend of learning and growing and we are looking forward to our next match next weekend."
Trinity Rosales and
Shelby Beisner each picked up two wins on the day. The duo won at No. 5 (21-14, 21-18) in the morning match against the Bears before taking a three-set win in the fourth flight against Stetson. Beisner finished the opening weekend 3-1, while Rosales was 3-0 to lead the Eagles individually.
Skylar English and
Lexie Hamilton had the deciding match against Mercer as they won the third flight 21-19, 21-15.
FGCU will return to action next weekend at the FAU Beach Burrow Bash on Friday and Saturday, March 4 and 5. On Friday, the Eagles will face host FAU (10 AM) and UNC Wilmington (4 PM) before taking on Austin Peay and Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday (10 AM/2 PM).
No. 18 FGCU 5, Mercer 0
- Maddison Parmelly/Kacie Johnson (FGCU) def. Olivia Boeve/Lexi Polychones 21-10, 21-13
- Snowy Burnam/Kirstine Garder (FGCU) def. Nicole O'Mara/Sydney Benson 21-12, 21-13
- Skylar English/Lexie Hamilton (FGCU) def. Alyssa Scoggins/Jordan Paddock 21-19, 21-15
- Emma Hansen/Kaitlyn Luebbers (FGCU) def. Hana Robertson/Ellie Miller 19-21, 21-7, 15-7
- Trinity Rosales/Shelby Beisner (FGCU) def. Reese Hood/Jordan Morris 21-14, 21-18
Extra Match:
Cortney VanLiew/
Mia Thompson (FGCU) def. Emily Earwood/Kathryn Corbett 21-6, 21-9
Order of Finish: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
No. 19 Stetson 4, FGCU 1
- Hae Henson/Kylie Neuschaeferova def. Maddison Parmelly/Kacie Johnson (FGCU) 21-19, 18-21, 15-9
- Carolina Ferraris/Anete Namike def. Snowy Burnam/Kristine Garder (FGCU) 21-12, 21-18
- Karin Zolnercikova/Gabriella Bramante def. Lexie Hamilton/Skylar English (FGCU) 21-15, 21-16
- Trinity Rosales/Shelby Beisner (FGCU) def. Lauren Della/Colene Hamilton 17-21, 21-13, 15-12
- Audrey Gauthier/Klea Sirois def. Emma Hansen/Kaitlyn Luebber (FGCU) 21-19, 23-21
Extra Match:
Elizabeth Richmond/
Cortney VanLiew (FGCU) def. Lauren Domel/Shahar Rosner 21-17, 21-15
Order of Finish: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
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 third 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 22-16 record to open his head coaching tenure.
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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 87 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 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. 25, 2021-22), 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 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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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