The FGCU beach volleyball team is sometimes, for the indoor volleyball players, spring training.
Last season. the beach volleyball team went 15-9 overall with a 6-4 record inn conference. They would enter the A-SUN Tournament as the No. 3 seed where they would earn wins over Mercer and UNF before falling to Stetson twice in the tournament including the championship finals.
The team is led by head coach Matt Botsford from the indoor volleyball. Botsford enters his fifth season as head coach for the beach team since
In his first season, Botsford's sqaud struggled badly going 2-18 with a 0-8 record in conference and lost both matches in the tournament.
In his second season at the helm, Botsford's squad went 4-11 with an 0-8 record in confernece. They would make it to the conference tournament, but would end up 1-2 in the tournament.
Botsford's Eagles eclipsed the 10-win mark for the first time in program history during his third season, compiling a 11-8 record with an 3-5 record in conference in 2016. FGCU defeated Coastal Carolina and North Florida in the A-SUN Tournament before falling in back-to-back matches to Stetson and North Florida.
Botsford's squad produced one of its most successful seasons ever at 15-9, with the win total representing the most in program history. The Eagles earned a trip to the A-SUN finals after downing North Florida and Mercer in the conference championship, but fell to nationally ranked Stetson 1-3 in the championship match. The second-place A-SUN finish tied a program-best.
For Botsford leaving behind indoor volleyball until next season, his squad will keep getting stronger with him behind the helm.
Helping Botsford is Chris Sweat. Sweat enters his fourth season as assistant coach.
A 2007 graduate from FGCU, Sweat brings a wallop of experience to the table (17 years to be exact).
As an athlete, Sweat placed first at the AAU National Championship tournament in Imperial Beach, Calif. in 2000 and compiled a five-year streak with a top-3 finish or better in that tournament.
As a coach, Sweat boasts five years of high school experience as the coach of the girls’ volleyball team at local Barron Collier High School. He has also coached the prestigious USA South Volleyball club for six years.
Most notably, Sweat has helped coach former FGCU volleyball player and current AVP Beach Volleyball pro Brooke Youngquist-Sweat. With guidance from Sweat and his brother Nick, the former Brooke Youngquist-Sweat is part of the current number 2 team in the nation and was named the AVP’s Best Defender in 2013.
As a former volunteer assistant with the program, Sweat officially joins the staff with over a decade of beach volleyball experience and unparalleled passion for the sport.
With the help to back up Botsford, Sweat will give it all he's got to make the team successful.
The beach team did lose lose three seniors as they graduated: Leigh Pudwill, Caroline Jordan and Madi Wilcox.
Halie Werkmeister has also departed from the team.
The indoor volleyball players that help the team are as noted with their overall records: Karissa Rhoades (26-19), Kaiti Krivdo (5-7), Giovanna Borgiotti (10-14) and Amanda Carroll (20-14).
Freshmen Alayna Ryan, Snowy Burnam and Cortney VanLiew will also be joining the beach team.
There are five players playing beach only (two seniors, two juniors and one freshman).
The two seniors have been around for a long while: Ashley Glickert and Mackenzie Allen.
The first is Ashley Glickert.
At 5-10 and hailing from Chesterfield, Missouri, Glickert can show you what shes got.
Joining the team her sophomore year, Glickert played alongside Katherine Puisis, Rhoades and Caroll mainly at the No. 3 spot. Glickert went 1-3 alongside Puisis, 1-3 with Caroll and 7-4 with Rhoades.
In her junior year, Glickert played alongside Borgiotti primarily at the No. 2 position where they went 10-14 overall.
For Glickert and her senior year, she will make impact.
If anyone has a lot of experience as a beach volleyball player, it's Mackenzie Allen.
At 5-10 and hailing from Naples, Florida is an ultimate force.
Allen originally played indoor volleyball her freshman and sophomore years.
She did not play beach for her freshman year, but in her sophomore year, pairing mainly with Carroll and Rhoades, Allen established a 2-6 record with Rhoades and a 7-4 record with Carroll finishing with a 9-10 overall record.
In her junior year, Allen paired with all season with Carroll going 12-11 as the No. 1 position.
For Allen she's gonna blow her competition in the sand.
Two returning juniors come into play with ease: Katie Puisis and Kellie Pernula.
The first of the two juniors is Katie Puisis.
At 5-11 and hailing from Mason, Ohio, Puisis is a great part of the team.
In her freshman year, Puisis played at the No. 3 and No. 5 position teaming with Leigh Pudwill and Glickert. She went 5-7 overall with 1-3 with Glickert and 4-4 with Pudwill.
In her sophomore year, it was Puisis' moment to shine. Playing at the No. 3 position, Puisis paired with Rhoades where they went 15-9 overall. Because of her hard work, Puisis was named a member of the A-SUN All-Conference First Team.
For Puisis, her moment will shine again.
The last member of the team is Kellie Pernula.
At 5-7 and hailing from Plant City, Florida, Pernula brings a great depth to the team.
In her freshman year, Pernula played mainly extra matches. Teaming with Amanda Carroll, Pernula went 1-2 in the season.
Pernula redshirted as a sophomore due to an injury, but her road to recovery will be out of this world.
The lone freshman on the whole team is Kayla Whetstone.
At 5-8 and hailing from Arlington, Texas, Whetstone is here to put her foot in the door.
Prior to FGCU, Whetstone played for Arlington Lamar High School as an outside hitter under head coach Heather Woodman. Whetstone totaled 828 kills, 30 assists, 1212 digs, 75 aces and 133 blocks in her career. She was All-District First Team as a senior and All-District Second Team as a junior.
After indoor, Whetstone played beach volleyball where she was a member of the 692 Beach National Team and the High Performance A2 Team.Whetstone won and placed in various beach tournaments across the nation including NVL, AAU, ROX and USAV.
With her prior experience with beach volleyball, Whetstone will make the magic happen.
I only have been to one beach volleyball, and I'm hoping to go to more this school year. The reason I didn't go to almost all of them was either A: there were not many at home or B: It was conflicting with my schedule for academics or with other sports. This year, I'm hoping to go to more than one match before I graduate and see what the team this year can do.
Photo Credit: FGCUathletics.com
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