Florida Gulf Coast University's beach volleyball team upset No. 15 Georgia State by a 3-2 score and delivered a 4-1 victory over University of Southern Mississippi on the first day of the Georgia State Invitational in Atlanta.

This was the Eagles first time defeaing the Panthers in six match-ups.

"I was really impressed with the way we closed out some games today," said head coach Chris Sweat. "Shelby and Trinity had one of the cleanest matches played all year and pulled out each set by two points. Kaitlyn and Emma at the No. 3 pair and Skylar and Sydney at the 5 pair both had huge tiebreak wins for us to seal the deal.

"It was a great team win, and we continued the momentum vs a good Southern Mississippi team. We are looking forward to playing to rank opponents."  

In the first match Georgia State (13-10) took the first point winning match No. 4 before Skylar English and Sydney Majick placed FGCU (13-13) on the scoreboard with a 14-21, 21-15, 15-7 victory.

FGCU took the lead as Shelby Beisner and Trinity Rosales rallied through three sets at No. 1 to prevail 22-20, 19-21, 16-14. The Panthers evened the match when Nicole De Oliveira and Kacie Johnson dropped their match on court No. 2 with 21-15, 21-19 scores.

All the attention was centered on court No. 3 and the duo of Kaitlyn Luebbers and Emma Soncrant held on to give the Eagles their third upset victory of the season, winning 21-17, 17-21, 15-11.

In the second match of the day the Green & Blue wasted no time as English and Majick delivered an easy 21-12 21-8 victory on court No. 5. The Golden Eagles (12-16) won 11-21, 21-15, 15-11 against Jaci Carpenter and Mia Thompson on No. 4 but it would be the only Southern Miss point of the evening.

De Oliveira and Luebbers won 21-18, 21-15 on court No. 2 before Johnson and Soncrant clinched the match on court No. 3, winning 21-15, 15-21, 15-11.

Beisner and Rosales sealed the final point for the Eagles delivering matching scores of 21-17, 21-17 on court No. 1.

FGCU closes out the tournament by taking on No. 17 Stetson University (13-6) at 8 a.m. and No. 8 LSU (15-8) at 2:30 p.m.
 
FGCU 3, GSU 2
1 Shelby Beisner and Trinity Rosales (FGCU) def. Angel Ferary and Bella Ferary (GSU) 22-20 19-21 16-14
2 Lila Bordis and Aree Keller (GSU) def. Nicole De Oliveira and Kacie Johnson (FGCU) 21-15, 21-19
3 Kaitlyn Luebbers and Emma Soncrant (FGCU) def. Elise Saga and Ayla Johnson (GSU) 21-17, 17-21 15-11
4 Savannah Ebarb and Destiny White (GSU) def. Jaci Carpenter and Mia Thompson (FGCU) 21-14, 21-14
5 Skylar English and Sydney Majick (FGCU) def. Michaela Jefferson and Aliisa Vuorinen (GSU)14-21 21-15 15-7
6 Cai Caiozzi and Lilly Hafner (FGCU) def.Caroline Zimovan and Kaebre Sullivan (GSU)11-21 21-12 15-10

Order of Finish: 4, 5, 1, 2, 3


FGCU 4, USM 1
1 Shelby Beisner and Trinity Rosales (FGCU) def. Laurel Dennis and Sadie McAda (USM) 21-17, 21-7
2 De Oliveira and Kaitlyn Luebbers (FGCU) def. Madison Cassidy and Sarah Murczek (USM) 21-18, 21-15
3 Kacie Johnson and Emma Soncrant (FGCU) def. Ashlyn Rough and Dylan Russell (USM) 21-15 15-21 15-11
4 Ola Chudzik and Valeria Siakidou Pa. (USM) def. Jaci Carpenter and Mia Thompson (FGCU) 11-21 21-15 15-11
5 Skylar English and Sydney Majick (FGCU) def. Ella Rodriguez and Morgan Perry (USM) 21-12 21-8 

Order of Finish: 5, 4, 2, 3, 1