FORT MYERS, Fla. – It's a big weekend on tap for the No. 20 FAU beach volleyball team as the Eagles head to the FAU Paradise Classic for two matches on Friday and two on Saturday. The event will see the Green and Blue take on Saint Leo (12 PM) and No. 10 FAU (4 PM) on Friday before then facing Palm Beach Atlantic (1 PM) and the host Owls (3 PM) on Saturday.
The Eagles tied the program's record for wins in a single-season this past Tuesday at Tampa to improve to 18-5 on the year. That total matched the 2018 squad which finished as ASUN runner-up. FGCU has also won eight consecutive matches entering the weekend. The contests against FAU will also be the first opportunity for the Eagles to pick up another win over a ranked foe after their 4-1 win at No. 17 Stetson on March 18.
Saint Leo enters with the weekend with a 19-7 overall record with 13 straight wins, while Palm Beach Atlantic is 14-11 overall including four losses to the Eagles. FAU is 15-8 overall including a win over FGCU on March 8.
Emma Hansen and
Kaitlyn Luebbers lead FGCU with an 18-4 record on the year and have won eight straight.
Maddison Parmelly and
Kacie Johnson are 15-7 on the year, while
Trinity Rosales and
Shelby Beisner are 14-4 rounding out the top records for the Eagles.
Following last Friday's win over Tampa in Fort Myers,
Snowy Burnam moved into a tie for fourth all-time in program history recording her 57
th career win, while Hansen moved up after Tuesday's win into seventh with 47 career wins.
Following this weekend's action, FGCU will next head to Columbia, South Carolina for the Palmetto Invitational on April 15-16 to close out the regular season. The ASUN Championship Tournament will be the next week, April 22-25, in Huntsville, Alabama.
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 39-20 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---
