HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – With wins over North Florida (4-1) and Jacksonville State (5-0), the No. 20 FGCU beach volleyball team got off to a strong start in pool play on day one of the ASUN Championship Tournament. The No. 2 seed Eagles will return to the John Hunt Sand Volleyball Complex tomorrow for matches against Jacksonville (11 AM) and Central Arkansas (2 PM). Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+.
"We definitely got a taste of what championship weekend feels like. Every pair had a few adjustments to make, but I was glad to see that with a format we have never done before, the girls did what they needed to do to get a big opening win that first match," said head coach
Chris Sweat. "The atmosphere here at the conference championships gave us a little extra adrenaline, but we settled into a grove and, overall, I was happy with the performance on the day."
In the win over third-seeded North Florida, the Eagles and Ospreys traded the opening points of the match as UNF won the No. 5 flight before the duo of
Snowy Burnam and
Cortney VanLiew won in three sets to tie the score, 1-1.
Jaci Carpenter and
Lexie Hamilton then won in straight sets in the No. 2 flight before
Shelby Beisner and
Trinity Rosales clinched the match point in the third flight with a three-set decision.
In the afternoon session, the Eagles cruised past No. 11 seed Jacksonville State with straight set wins in each flight.
Emma Hansen and
Kaitlyn Luebbers in the No. 5 flight and Burnam and VanLiew in the No. 4 flight gave FGCU an early 2-0 lead before Rosales and Beisner earned their second match-clinching point of the day at the No. 3 flight.
With her two wins on the day, Burnam now has 65 career victories and is just three shy of passing
Kayla Whetstone for the program's all-time mark. For the Eagles, the 25 wins on the year continues to extend the program's record for most victories in a season.
#20 FGCU 4, North Florida 1
1. PARMELLY, Maddison/JOHNSON, Kacie (FGCU) def. Taryn Griffey/Callie Workman (UNF) 21-15, 12-21, 15-9
2. CARPENTER, Jaci/HAMILTON, Lexie (FGCU) def. Zoe Cahill/Julianna Askew (UNF) 21-13, 21-15
3. BEISNER, Shelby/ROSALES, Trinity (FGCU) def. Lauren Galinis/Gabby O'Connell (UNF) 21-9, 14-21, 15-11
4. BURNHAM, Snowy/VANLIEW, Cortney (FGCU) def. Chantel McMillan/Hayden Wooldridge (UNF) 19-21, 21-11, 15-9
5. Madeline Camp/M. Feliciano Sanchez (UNF) def. LUEBBERS, Kaitlyn/HANSEN, Emma (FGCU) 21-17, 21-18
Order of finish: 5,4,2,3,1
#20 FGCU 5, Jacksonville State 0
1 . Parmelly, Maddison/Johnson, Kacie (FGCU) def. Quigley, Kylee/Ochs, Claire (JSU) 21-12, 21-14
2 . Hamilton, Lexie/Carpenter, Jacqueline (FGCU) def. Pauze, Peyton/Thomas, Taylor (JSU) 21-16, 21-9
3 . Rosales, Trinity/Beisner, Shelby (FGCU) def. Carmichael, Erin/Kindermann, Lena (JSU) 21-9, 21-14
4 . Burnam, Snowy/VanLiew, Cortney (FGCU) def. Lindberg, Paulina /Schiffli, Brooklyn (JSU) 21-9, 21-14
5 . Hansen, Emma/Luebbers, Kaitlyn (FGCU) def. Randall, Bethany/Lonergan, Emily-Kate (JSU) 21-17, 21-7
Order of finish: 5,4,3,1,2
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 46-23 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 92 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---
