FGCU BVB: Day of the Duals Preview

Senior Karissa Rhoades will look to inch closer to history as the FGCU beach volleyball team (2-2) travels to the Peach State to battle No. 18 Georgia State (8-4) and No. 10 South Carolina (5-5) on Tuesday. The matches will be part of the Day of Duals hosted by Georgia State.

Last Time Out:
As a team, the Eagles opened the season by splitting four games in the Battle on the Bay hosted by Eckerd College in St. Petersburg over the weekend. In addition to the No. 2 pair of Rhoades and Puisis, two other pairs also went 3-1 - sophomores Snowy Burnam and Kayla Whetstone at No. 3 and redshirt sophomore Candace Lacour and junior Giovanna Borgiotti at No. 4.

Rhoades its at 44 career victories, which is just two shy of matching the current record held by Madi Wilcox (2014-17). Her partner, senior Katherine Puisis, currently sits in third place with 40 as the duo is on pace to easily finish the season at 1-2 in the record book. The pair also holds the top two spots in career winning percentage.

Full Schedule
10 a.m. - No. 2 Southern Cal vs. No. 10 South Carolina
12:30 p.m. - No. 18 Georgia State vs. No. 2 Southern Cal
3 p.m. FGCU vs. No. 10 South Carolina
5 p.m. No. 18 Georgia State vs. FGCU
*Start times are not fixed. Each dual will begin 30 minutes after the prior round is complete to ensure adequate warm up time and a break for the officials.

Opponent Capsules
South Carolina will enter the event with a .500 record but all five of their losses are to ranked teams - No. 3 Florida State (5-0 and 4-1), No. 6 Cal Poly (4-1), No. 7 LSU (3-2), No. 18 FAU (4-1). They also knocked off LSU 3-2 on March 2. The Gamecocks have won two in a row.

Georgia State (8-4) has won four straight. They will also battle second-ranked and two-time national champion USC (10-1) at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The Panthers went 6-0 at the GSU Beach complex last year and own a 16-1 home record over the past three seasons.

Series History:
FGCU is 1-2 all-time against South Carolina, with the lone win coming April 9, 2016 at the Fiesta on the Siesta. Meanwhile, the Eagles are 0-1 against Georgia State.