FORT MYERS, Fla. – After posting a program-best 23-8 regular season, the No. 20 FGCU beach volleyball team will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming ASUN Championship hosted at the John Hunt Sand Volleyball Complex in Huntsville, Ala. The Eagles will headline Pool B and are set to play five matches starting on Friday morning.
 
Pool play will begin Friday, April 22 with the Eagles taking on No. 3 seed North Florida at 9:30 AM before then playing No. 11 seed Jacksonville State at 2 PM. On Saturday, FGCU will play #10 seed Jacksonville (11 AM) and No. 7 Central Arkansas (2 PM) before concluding the opening portion of the tournament on Sunday against No. 6 North Alabama (11 AM). All matches will be streamed live on ESPN+.
 
Stetson earned the No. 1 overall seed as the top team in Pool A. The top two teams from each pool will advance to Monday's single-elimination semifinals matches. The top team from Pool A will play the No. 2 team from Pool B with the other semifinal featuring Pool B's No. 1 team taking on the No. 2 squad from Pool A. Both will start at 12:30 PM with the winners playing at 2:30 PM for the ASUN Championship title. The winner will receive the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Eagles enter the ASUN Championship after winning a program-best 23 games this season and ranked No. 20 in the AVCA Top 20 for much of the year. This past weekend, FGCU went 3-1 at the Palmetto Invitational which included a dramatic 3-2 win over No. 18 South Carolina on Saturday afternoon.
 
FGCU ASUN Tournament History:
2021 – 2-2, lost in loser's bracket final to North Florida
2020 – No Tournament due to COVID-19 Pandemic
2019 - 4-2, lost in championship to Stetson
2018 - 2-2, lost in loser's bracket final to North Florida
2017 - 2-2, lost in championship to Stetson
2016 - 2-2, lost in loser's bracket final to North Florida
2015 - 1-2, lost in loser's bracket semifinal to North Florida
2014 - 0-2, lost in loser's bracket quarterfinal to Stetson
2013 - 1-2, lost in loser's bracket semifinal to Jacksonville
2012 - 2-2, tournament featured round-robin play
 
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.
 
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
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 44-23 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.
 
---FGCUATHLETICS.COM---