DeLAND, Fla. – The FGCU beach volleyball team (1-1, 1-0 ASUN Conference) dropped its morning match 4-1 to No. 12 Florida Atlantic (4-1), but immediately bounced back in the afternoon with a 3-2 victory over North Florida (0-1, 0-1) on day one of the 2023 Stetson Season Opener at Stetson's Cooper Beach Courts.
"It felt great to get back in the sand to start our 2023 season, and both matches show how truly competitive NCAA beach volleyball has gotten," said head coach
Chris Sweat. "FAU made us work for every point and kept us out of rhythm for most of the match, and pulled out a bunch of wins to show why they are the No. 12 team in the country."
"UNF will always be a battle with high emotions, and it was very evident on every court. Jaci and Kristina looked great securing us a point to start us out, and then the closing ability of Dylan and Nicole, and Maddie and Kacie in big moments with the match on the line was great to see as well."
The No. 1 pair of Junior
Kacie Johnson (
Frisco, Texas/Lebanon Trail HS) and
Maddison Parmelly (Rockwall, Texas/Rockwall Health) delivered back-to-back wins – going 24-22, 21-19 against the Owls and then battling through a 20-22, 23-21, 15-10 victory against the Ospreys.
Freshmen
Dylan Brewer (
Lantana, Texas, John H. Guyer HS) and
Nicole De Oliveira (
Cary, N.C./ Green Level HS) split their matches on the day. They dropped their match 21-11, 21-11 against FAU at No. 2 before winning 21-15, 21-18 against UNF at No. 3.
Freshman
Kristina Gluc (
Kissimmee, Fla./Osceola Virtual.) and sophomore
Jacqueline Carpenter (
Dublin, Ohio. /Dublin Jerome)) teamed up at No. 5 to seal the Eagles third match point with a 21-9, 21-12 decision.
The Eagles return to action Saturday for day two of the Stetson Season Opener, taking on host Stetson (2-0) at 10 a.m. and then Mercer 91-0) at 2 p.m.
No. 12 Florida Atlantic 4, FGCU 1
1.
Kacie Johnson/
Maddison Parmelly (FGCU)
def. Ellie Austin/Christine Jarman (FAU) 24-22, 21-19
2. Ashleigh Adams/Julie Honzovicova (FAU) def.
Dylan Brewer / Nicole De Oliveira 21-11, 21-11
3. Courtney Moon/Kate McLaughlin (FAU) def.
Shelby Beisner/Lexie Hamilton 21-12, 21-17
4. Emma Grace Robertson/Jillienne Cangelosi (FAU) def.
Kristina Gluc/Kaitlyn Luebbers 21-11, 24-25, 15-10
5. Stephanie Young/Alivia Orvieto (FAU) def.
Jacqueline Carpenter/ Mia Thompson 27-25, 21-9
Order of Finish: 5, 4, 2, 3, 1
FGCU 3, North Florida 2
1.
Kacie Johnson/
Maddison Parmelly (FGCU) def. Iris Fletcher/Audrey Brooks (UNF) 20-22, 23-21,15-10
2.
Michaela Rezentes/Katie Campy (UNF) def. Shelby Beisner /Trinity Rosales (FGCU) 21-12, 21-19
3.
Dylan Brewer/Nicole De Oliveira (FGCU)
def. Kelly McConekey /Hayden Wooldridge (UNF) 21-15, 21-18
4.
Madison Espy/Presley Murray (UNF) def.
Lexie Hamilton/Kaitlyn Luebbers (FGCU) 21-10, 21-13
5.
Jacqueline Carpenter/Kristina Gluc (FGCU) def. Chantel McMillan/Iris Fletcher (UNF) 21-9, 21-12
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 3, 2, 1
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.
COACH SWEAT
Sweat's 2022 team finished with a program-high 29 wins, and Sweat earned his 50th career victory in just his third season as coach. Sweat became the first coach in FGCU program history to earn ASUN Coach of the Year accolade after guiding his team to its 11th-consecutive appearance in the ASUN Championship. The Eagles earned wins over two top-25 teams in 2022, downing No. 17 Stetson and No. 18 South Carolina while also taking down seven different conference squads. Sweat's FGCU program again ascended to a No. 20 ranking in the AVCA Top 20 in March 2022 and maintained that ranking through the ASUN Tournament. He is in his fourth 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 51-24 (.680) record
#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 94 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 47 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22 and No. 25 in 2022-23) beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & 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 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. 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.
