The Eagles will compete against Saint Leo, Arizona State, University of Tennessee at Martin and Tampa over the two-day event. Arizona State is in the receiving votes section of the latest AVCA national poll.
It will be the first-ever matchup for the Green and Blue against Arizona State and UT Martin. They're 1-0 against Tampa after a 4-1 win last year, and they are 4-1 all-time against Eckerd dating back to 2015.
FGCU will feature preseason all-conference selections seniors Karissa Rhoades and Katherine Puisis and junior Giovanna Borgiotti this season. Puisis and Rhoades broke the program's single-season wins record last year with 17, while Borgiotti is the only player in program history with 10 or more wins in each of her first two collegiate seasons, and she's done it at multiple pairs - 14 at No. 3 and 12 at No. 2.
Other returners include sophomores Kayla Whetstone and Snowy Burnam, who were named to the A-SUN's All-Freshman Team last year. Burnam became just the second player in NCAA history to be named her conference's freshman of the year in both indoor and beach volleyball (Kathryn Plummer, Stanford).
Senior Amanda Carroll will return to anchor the No. 1 pair, while Cortney VanLiew and Alayna Ryan will also be back.
New to the team will be freshmen Kirstine Garder, Camryn Bossinas and Emma Hansen and redshirt sophomore Candace Lacour. Lacour joins FGCU after transferring from Florida Atlantic.
Friday's Schedule
Tampa vs UT Martin, 10 a.m.
Arizona State vs North Florida - 11 a.m.
Eckerd vs UT Martin - 12 p.m.
FGCU vs Saint Leo - 1 p.m.
Tampa vs Webber - 2 p.m.
Eckerd vs North Florida - 3 p.m.
FGCU vs Arizona State - 4 p.m.
Saturday's Schedule
Tampa vs North Florida, 10 a.m.
Arizona State vs UT Martin, 11 a.m.
Tampa vs FGCU, 12 p.m.
Saint Leo vs North Florida, 1 p.m.
Arizona State vs Eckerd, 2 p.m.
Saint Leo vs Webber, 3 p.m.
UT Martin vs FGCU, 4 p.m.
Eckerd vs Webber, 5 p.m.
Opponent Capsules:
Saint Leo (3-6) is in its first year with a beach volleyball program. Three of those losses came to ranked teams - No. 10 FIU, No. 17 Stetson and No. 13 Georgia State. They have won two straight - both against UT Martin on Wednesday.
UT Martin (2-6) is in the midst of a 9-day, 12-match stretch in Florida. The Skyhawks recently completed their beach volleyball facility and feature eight underclassmen. Junior Hannah Phillips is the only player with NCAA beach volleyball experience.
Tampa (3-5) is also a young program as the Spartans are in just their second year. Four of their five losses have come to ranked teams - No. 18 Tulane, No. 9 South Carolina, No. 6 Cal Poly and No. 3 Florida State. They have won three of the past four, including a win over Jacksonville (5-0) on March 2.
Arizona State (3-3) is in its seventh year of existence. They defeated No. 16 Grand Canyon on Feb. 23 and lost to No. 15 Loyola Marymount, No. 1 UCLA and No. 11 California. In their most recent match, they knocked off Washington 5-0 in Tucson, Ariz.
How to Keep Up:
Fans can keep up with the team on Twitter (@FGCU_BeachVB)
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