Eagles beat College of Charleston, Fall vs. 16 South Carolina

COLUMBIA, SC The FGCU beach volleyball team (14-16, 4-4 ASUN Conference) defeated the College of Charleston (19-8) 4-1 Friday night on the first day of the Palmetto Invitational.

The Green & Blue dropped their first game of the day, falling 3-2 to host 16th-ranked South Carolina (17-10).

“This is one of our favorite trips of the year because of the atmosphere here and the teams competing,” said the FGCU head beach volleyball coach.Chris Sweat. “We had some great moments in the South Carolina game and would have liked to get the win, but we’re definitely building momentum going into next weekend.”

Green & Blue’s No. 2 senior pairShelby Beisner(Port Charlotte, Fla/Charlotte) and juniorTrinity Rosales(Wilmington, NC / Eugene Ashley) posted back-to-back wins of 17-21, 21-19, 16-14 against the Gamecocks and earned a 23-21, 21-13 win against the Cougars to close out the match.

Second year studentKaitlyn Luebbers(Union, Ky./Randall K. Cooper) and completesLexie Hamilton(Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS/UNCW) also took two wins. Well. 4 pair delivered a 24-22, 21-16 finish against No. 4 South Carolina and picked up a 21-18, 22-20 win against COC.

Second year studentJacqueline Carpenter(Dublin, Ohio. /Dublin Jerome) and freshmanKristina Gluc(Kissimmee, Fla./Osceola Virtual) won 21-13, 21-9 to give the Eagles their first point against the Cougars at No. 5.

FreshmenDylan Brewer(Lantana, Texas / John H. Guyer HS) andNicole De Oliveira(Cary, NC/ Green Level HS) added the final point with a 21-18, 21-14 win at No. 3.

The Eagles return to action Saturday for the second day of the Palmetto Invitational, playing Jacksonville (12-17) at 9 a.m. and Coastal Carolina (21-10) at 11 a.m.

For complete coverage of the FGCU 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 receive news about FGCU beach volleyball or other programs directly to your email by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

FGCU 2, No. 16 South Carolina 3

1. Skylar Allen/Simone Priebe (SC) def.Maddison Parmelly/Kacie Johnson (FGCU)21-18, 21-15
2.Shelby Beisner/Trinity Rosales (FGCU)def. Allison Coens/Lauren Wilcock (SC) 17-21, 21-19, 16-14
3. Kaeli Crews/Hannah Mackenhausen (SC) def.Dylan Brewer/Nicole De Oliveira (FGCU)17-21, 21-19, 15-11
4.Kaitlyn Luebbers/Lexie Hamilton (FGCU)def. Jolie Cranford/Kennedy Westendorff (SC) 24-22, 21-16
5. Lizzie Thompson/Peyton Gray (SC) def.Jacqueline Carpenter/Kristina Gluc (FGCU)14-21, 21-18, 15-8
Extension. Chase Teal/Riley Whitesides (SC) def. Lily Felts/Mia Thompson (FGCU) 21-18, 21-15

Finishing order: 4, 5, 1, 2, 3

FGCU 4, COC 1

1. Kyra Thompson/Gabi Bailey (COFC) def.Maddison Parmelly/Kacie Johnson (FGCU)21-12, 21-16
2.Shelby Beisner/Trinity Rosales (FGCU)def. Ella Reames/Maria Zweig (COFC) 23-21, 21-13
3.Dylan Brewer/Nicole De Oliveira (FGCU)def. Kora Hansen/Emma Falk (COFC) 21-18, 21-14
4.Kaitlyn Luebbers/Lexie Hamilton (FGCU)def. Sofie Vogel/Tynley Smeltzer (COFC) 21-18, 22-20
5.Jacqueline Carpenter/Kristina Gluc (FGCU)def. Alli Grant Avery/Elizabeth Curry (COFC) 21-13, 21-9

Finishing order: 5, 4, 2, 3, 1

MANUFACTURER SWEATS
Chris Sweat‘sThe 2022 team finished with a program-record 29 wins, and Sweat notched 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 honors after guiding his team to its 11th consecutive ASUN Championship appearance. The Eagles beat two top-25 teams in 2022, defeating No. 17 Stetson and No. 18 South Carolina, and defeating seven different conference teams. Sweat’s FGCU program again climbed to No. 20 in the AVCA Top 20 in March 2022 and maintained that ranking through the ASUN tournament. He is in his fourth season as the head coach of the FGCU beach volleyball program after spending the previous five seasons as an assistant coach. Named to 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 lockout and has posted a 64-40 (.615) record.

#FEEDFGCU

FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit FGCU Athletics’ charities FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org). For more information, including how to donate, visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and use the hashtag #FeedFGCU to raise awareness.

ABOUT FGCU

FGCU teams have won an incredible 97 conference regular season and tournament championships in just over 15 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just over 11 post-DI seasons, the Eagles have had a total of 48 teams or individuals compete in the NCAA Championships. In 2022, the men’s golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. Nine FGCU programs have earned top-25 national rankings in their respective sports — including women’s basketball (No. 20 in 2021-22 and No. 22 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 15 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20 in 2022) and both men’s soccer (2018, 2019) and women’s soccer (2018) five most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & Blue finished a division-best sixth in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors’ Cup and ranked in the top 100 nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had the top seven teams in the ASUN and the state of Florida earn an NCAA public recognition award for academic excellence in their sport. FGCU also earned a combined record 3.67 GPA in the classroom in the fall of 2022 and has topped the overall university undergraduate student body for 27 consecutive semesters. Another milestone was reached over the last seven semesters (Fall 2019 Fall 2022) when all 15 programs achieved a cumulative team GPA of 3.0 or higher. The Eagles also served an all-time record 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
—FGCUATHLETICS.COM—