Sophomores Snowy Burnam and Kayla Whetstone (21-4) pushed their winning streak to six, and freshman Emma Hansen proved her worth after being inserted into the starting lineup, but the No. 3 seed FGCU beach volleyball team (15-10) dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 match to No. 2 North Florida on Thursday to conclude the first day of the A-SUN tournament at Cooper Beach.
The Eagles opened the first day of the double-elimination tournament with a sweep of No. 6 North Alabama (10-11) in the winner's bracket quarterfinals. The ensuing matchup against North Florida featured seven of 14 sets decided by two points or less and four pairs that went three sets, but FGCU dropped its third 3-2 match to the Ospreys this year.
"I thought we played well collectively, but in tight matches like that, we have to close out better," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "Our matchup against UNF was as expected - extremely competitive and close at the end. Unfortunately, we didn't do a good enough job closing out some key sets and that ultimately came back to haunt us."
Hansen teamed with junior Giovanna Borgiotti (2-0) at the four pair and produced a pair of victories in her postseason debut. After opening with a 21-11, 21-12 victory over North Alabama, the duo let a lead slip away and dropped the opening set against UNF. However, they produced a 21-13 win in the next set and made key plays down the stretch in a 15-13 third-set win.
Borgiotti, meanwhile, improved her program-best postseason record to 7-2. Hansen, who was previously 5-3 in the fifth pair, improved her season winning percentage to .700.
In the third pair, Burnam and Whetstone had to fight their way to becoming the program's first-ever 20-game winners. The duo opened the day with a 21-18, 21-18 win and then lost a tough first-set against UNF by two points. After evening things up with a four-point win in the second, they came from behind to tally a 17-15 tiebreaking set.
In doing so, the sophomore pair is now 21-4 on the season, raising their program-record season winning percentage to .840. They are also one win away from tying Mackenzie Allen (2015-18) and Ashley Glickert (2015-18) for sixth-place on the career wins list.
"Gio and Emma did an outstanding job, especially with their limited time together," Botsford said. "Snowy and Kayla did a great job responding to a tough first set and found a way to get us a much needed win at the 3's."
Furthermore, Burnam and Whetstone's win against UNF provided some hope for FGCU as it tied the match at two apiece, but senior Amanda Carroll and freshman Kirstine Garder dropped a 16-14 third-set decision on the first court to end the match less than a minute later.
Despite that, the duo pushed its season win total to 15, which puts Garder just one win shy of tying the program's freshman wins record set by Burnam and Whetstone last year. Carroll moved into sole possession of third place on the program's career wins list with 47.
The program's career wins leaders, seniors Karissa Rhoades and Katherine Puisis, lost a pair of two-point sets to North Florida to conclude the day, but not before they stretched their program-record winning streak record to 10 in a 21-12, 21-3 win over North Alabama.
Longest Winning Streaks In Program History
10 - Karissa Rhoades and Katherine Puisis - 2019
8 - Giovanna Borgiotti and Ashley Glickert - 2018
8 - Elisa Anne Aldrich and Madi Wilcox - 2018
FGCU's No. 5 pair of sophomore Cortney VanLiew and Alayna Ryan split the day, as well. VanLiew is just shy of moving her career winning percentage to .500 as she sits at 15-16 overall, while Ryan also won her 15th career match in the opener against North Alabama.
Notes
For the third-consecutive season, FGCU tied the program's single-season wins record in the North Alabama match. They can set a new standard with a victory against Austin Peay on Friday.
Next Up:
The Green and Blue will resume play with a 7:30 a.m. matchup on Friday against No. 5 Austin Peay in a loser's bracket quarterfinal. Should they advance, they would close the day with a 1:30 p.m. tilt against the winner of No. 4 Coastal Carolina and North Alabama in a loser's bracket semifinal.
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