BOCA RATON, Fla. – The No. 20 FGCU beach volleyball team finished the FAU Paradise Classic with a split of day two as the Eagles earned a 5-0 win over Palm Beach Atlantic before falling 4-1 to No. 10 Florida Atlantic. The Eagles improved to 20-7 overall on the year becoming the first team in program history to hit the 20-win plateau.
 
"This is the time of the year you want to see what your team is made of and going point-for-point with a top team in the country like FAU was great to see," said head coach Chris Sweat. "I thought everyone battled for every single point and the competitiveness, passion, and fire in all the girls is what you love to see in collegiate beach volleyball."
 
The Eagles opened the day with a full sweep of Palm Beach Atlantic picking up their 20^th win of the season marking the first time in program history to hit the milestone. Lexie Hamilton and Jaci Carpenter in the second flight earned the first win of the match before wins by Cortney VanLiew and Snowy Burnam in the fourth flight put FGCU up 2-0. Kacie Johnson and Maddison Parmelly won in straight sets at the No. 1 pair to earn the match-clinching point.
 
In the late afternoon session, the Eagles went toe-to-toe with the 10^th-ranked Owls. VanLiew and Burnam earned the win for FGCU in the No. 4 flight taking a three-set battle (19-21, 21-16, 15-13). The Green and Blue also forced third matches by Rosales and Beisner in the No. 3 flight which was decided by two points in each set (24-22, 19-21, 13-15) as did Kaitlyn Luebbers and Emma Hansen at No. 5.
 
The Eagles will close out the regular-season next Friday and Saturday, April 15-16, at the Palmetto Invitational hosted by South Carolina. Following that weekend series, FGCU will then turn its attention to the ASUN Tournament from April 22-25 in Huntsville, Ala.
 
#20 FGCU 5, Palm Beach Atlantic 0
1. Kacie Johnson/Maddison Parmelly (FGCU) def. Jazz Schmidt/Lunden Evans (PBA) 21-15, 21-15
2. Lexie Hamilton/Jaci Carpenter (FGCU) def. Abby Devido/Lyndzey Minter (PBA) 21-15, 22-20
3. Trinity Rosales/Shelby Beisner(FGCU) def. Julia Golichowski/Karla Cantero (PBA) 21-19, 21-15
4. Cortney VanLiew/Snowy Burnam (FGCU) def. Aziz Gabriella/Emma Vann (PBA) 14-21, 21-14, 15-12
5. Emma Hansen/Kaitlyn Luebbers (FGCU) def. Olivia Finckel/Abigail Mason (PBA) 21-8, 21-19
6. Skylar English/Mia Thompson (FGCU) def. Bailey Myott/Lorrayne Silva(PBA) 17-21, 21-10, 18-16
Order of finish: 2,4,1,5,3
 
#10 Florida Atlantic 4, #20 FGCU 1
1. Erica Brok/Mackenzie Morris (FAU) def. JOHNSON, Kacie/PARMELLY, Maddison (FGCU) 21-13, 21-15
2. Courtney Moon/Marketa Svozilova (FAU) def. CARPENTER, Jaci/HAMILTON, Lexie (FGCU) 21-17, 21-19
3. Ellie Austin/Julie Honzovicova (FAU) def. BEISNER, Shelby/ROSALES, Trinity (FGCU) 22-24, 21-19, 15-13
4. BURNHAM, Snowy/VANLIEW, Cortney (FGCU) def. Christine Jarman/Jillienne Cangelosi (FAU) 19-21, 21-16, 15-13
5. Abby Jackson/Logan Mignerey (FAU) def. LUEBBERS, Kaitlyn/HANSEN, Emma (FGCU) 21-16, 20-22, 15-12
Ext. ENGLISH, Skylar/RICHMOND, Elizabeth (FGCU) def. Lily Richman/Maylin Bouffard (FAU) 21-14, 11-21, 15-11
Order of finish: 2,4,1,5,3
 
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.
 
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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.
 
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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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