FGCU Beach VB vs Florida Southern Recap

Playing in its second-ever match on campus at The Roc, the FGCU beach volleyball team (8-7) celebrated senior day on Tuesday with a 5-0 defeat of Florida Southern (10-9). Each pair finished in straight sets, and the outcome ended a six-match winning streak for the Mocs.

"It was clean," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said of his team's win. "We talked a lot about managing unforced errors. Of course, there's going to be mistakes and you're not going to be able to execute perfectly, but over the course of a 21-point game, you better make sure you're paying close attention to how points are being scored. There's been times we've been a little bit too error prone, but today I thought there was a nice emphasis on managing that better, and they did."

Prior to the match, the FGCU beach volleyball program honored its three seniors - Amanda Carroll, Karissa Rhoades and Katherine Puisis. The trio comprises the winningest senior class in program history. They are on pace to produce double-digit victories for the fourth straight season and have registered a 49-35 record in three-plus seasons so far. On top of that, they have a chance to finish 1-2-3 in individual career victories by season's end.

Rhoades became the first player in program history to reach 50 career wins with a 21-8, 21-8 win at the No. 2 pair along with her senior partner Puisis. She previously became the all-time leader in career victories and is now 50-33 (.602) in her career. Puisis, meanwhile, won her 46th career match and is now tied for second-most wins with Madi Wilcox (46, 2014-17).

Career Wins Leaders
50 - Karissa Rhoades, 2016-present
46 - Madi Wilcox, 2014-17
46 - Katherine Puisis, 2016-present
40 - Amanda Carroll, 2016-present
38 - Mackenzie Allen, 2015-18
38 - Ashley Glickert, 2015-18
35 - Giovanna Borgiotti, 2017-present

Carroll also reached a milestone by becoming just the fourth player in program history with 40 career wins. Carroll and freshman Kirstine Garder to produce a 21-14, 21-13 victory at the No. 1 pair and is now six wins shy of matching Wilcox for third-most victories.

Meanwhile, a sophomore duo continued a fantastic campaign as Snowy Burnam and Kayla Whetstone recorded a 21-5, 21-12 victory at No. 3. In doing so, the tandem improved its team-best record to 12-3, and they are two wins shy of reaching 30 career victories. On top of that, Burnam and Whetstone have a chance to surpass the program's single-season wins record of 17, which was set by Puisis and Rhoades last year.

Another big win for the Green and Blue came from the No. 4 duo of junior Giovanna Borgiotti and redshirt sophomore Candace Lacour. While it was the closest matchup of the day at 21-19, 21-17, they managed to end a 10-match winning streak for Florida Southern's Haley Goodrich and Celia Greco, who were 11-0 on the season at that pair after mixing in time at No. 3.

Sophomores Cortney VanLiew and Alayna Ryan produced the fifth win for the Eagles with a 21-13, 21-10 win at the five pair. It was the duo's second win of the season together.

Tuesday featured just the second all-time match played at The ROC after the Green and Blue knocked off Tampa 4-1 on March 16 of last season. The team typically plays at Estero Community Park.

Next Up:
The Eagles will travel to Tampa on Saturday for matchups against Florida Southern (12 p.m.) and Tampa (2 p.m.) at the Tampa Beach Volleyball Complex.