The No. 3 duo of sophomores Kayla Whetstone and Snowy Burnam produced a win over No. 10 South Carolina Tuesday at the GSU Sand Complex, but the FGCU beach volleyball team (2-4) fell in a pair of matches to nationally-ranked opponents, No. 10 South Carolina (4-1) and No. 18 Georgia State (5-0).
"Today was tough," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "We played two high-caliber teams and found ourselves playing reactive most of the day. While I thought our effort was great against South Carolina, we continue to struggle with execution in late-game situations. Nevertheless, today was extremely valuable as we know precisely the areas we need to focus more on in our training."
Whetstone and Burnam dropped the opening set, but fought back to pick up a pair of thrilling set wins, 24-22 and 15-13, to capture the opener. Despite the ensuing loss to No. 18 Georgia State, they're a team-best 4-2 this year.
"Snowy and Kayla performed at a very high level all day," Botsford said. "Their chemistry on the court is always evident, and they continue to complement one another out there. Their ball control and defense in the early part of this season has been so consistent, which translates into always being competitive."
Junior Giovanna Borgiotti and redshirt sophomore Candace Lacour fell 15-12 in the third set to South Carolina in FGCU's only other three-set match aside from Whetstone and Burnam.
No. 10 South Carolina 4, FGCU 1
1. Bates/Williams (SC) d. Carroll/Garder 21-15, 21-18
2. Dimke/Smith (SC) d. Rhoades/Puisis 21-11, 21-19
3. Whetstone/Burnam (FGCU) d. Harrison/Schnieder 18-21, 24-22, 15-13
4. Vastine/Edelman (SC) d. Borgiotti/Lacour 17-21, 24-22, 15-12
5. Skaff/Ballard (SC) d. Ryan/VanLiew 21-16, 21-17
No. 18 Georgia State 5, FGCU 0
1. Johnson/Hawes d. Carroll/Garder 21-16, 21-16
2. Stasevich/Delmonte d. Rhoades/Puisis 21-15, 21-17
3. Weiner/Novack d. Burnam/Whetstone 18-21, 21-17, 15-5
4. Gordon/Tresham d. Borgiotti/Lacour 21-15, 21-13
5. McGinn/Dorn d. Ryan/VanLiew 21-14, 21-12
Notes
South Carolina also knocked off No. 2 ranked and two-time national champion USC on Tuesday. Georgia State is now 17-2 at home over the past three seasons.
FGCU is 1-3 all-time against South Carolina, with the win coming April 9, 2016 at the Fiesta on the Siesta. Meanwhile, the Eagles are now 0-2 against Georgia State.
Next Up
The Green and Blue will open its home slate with a doubleheader against Eckerd College on Wednesday, March 20 at 2 p.m.
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