FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast (18-14) is set to begin the 2026 ASUN Beach Volleyball Championship against Eastern Kentucky (17-11) at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22.

The Eagles secured the No. 3 seed in the ASUN Championship behind an 18-14 regular season that featured a ranked win over No. 14 Hawaii, along with a season-opening win over South Carolina.

Nicole De Oliveira earned her third consecutive First Team All-ASUN selection, the trio of Erin Miller, Andrea Dietz and Sydney Majick tallied Second Team All-ASUN honors, and Vanessa Moriarty notched an All-Freshman team selection. 

EKU enters at 17-11 with wins over Liberty, Austin Peay and Central Arkansas, among others. The Colonels dropped matches to Jacksonville, North Alabama and North Florida.

FGCU is searching for its first ASUN Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance this week. The Eagles have finished as the runner-up four times, most recently in 2023. FGCU made the semifinals in 2024 & 2025, and has been either a semifinalist or runner-up every year since 2016. FGCU is 1-0 against Eastern Kentucky in the ASUN Championship and 3-0 all-time against the Colonels. 

The lone postseason meeting between FGCU and EKU was one year ago, also as the No. 3-6 seed first round matchup. Alexis Keeter and Ava Lilliquist won as a pair, and De Oliveira, Emma Soncrant, Majick and Miller also return after winning their respective pair matches.

The double elimination bracket will have the Eagles play at either 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. on Thursday, pending Wednesday's result. The full bracket and championship information is available here.

For more information on FGCU beach volleyball, follow @FGCU_BeachVB on Instagram, X (Twitter) and Facebook, and visit fgcuathletics.com.