FORT MYERS, Fla. – The No. 20 FGCU beach volleyball team will close out the regular-season this Friday and Saturday at the Palmetto Invitational hosted by South Carolina. The Eagles will take on No. 14 Georgia State (9 AM) and Coastal Carolina (1 PM) on Friday and No. 18 South Carolina (11 AM) and College of Charleston (1 PM) on Saturday.
FGCU (20-7) are coming off a split weekend at the FAU Paradise Classic which helped set the new program record for wins in a season. The 20 wins this year surpassed the previous mark of 18 set by the 2018 squad which finished as ASUN runner-up.
The Eagles have won 10 of their last 12 matches including a nine-game win streak in that stretch.
Georgia State enters the weekend with an 18-11 overall record, while Coastal Carolina is 17-10. South Carolina is 17-8 overall after winning six straight and the College of Charleston enters Friday's play at 18-8 overall.
Several Eagles will look to continue climbing the Green and Blue's all-time win chart.
Snowy Burnam is currently tied for third all-time in program history with 60 wins and just two shy from taking over second place.
Emma Hansen ranks seventh all-time with 49 victories and also needs two more to move up a spot.
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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 41-22 record to open his head coaching tenure.
#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 90 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 10 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 44 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. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) 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 25 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2021) 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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