Fort Myers, Fla. - The No. 14 FIU Beach Volleyball team will look to continue their success at the FGCU Inaugural Tournament on March 7-8. The winners of six straight will go up against Florida Gulf Coast and No. 20 Stetson on day one, before playing South Carolina and No. 19 North Florida on day two.
 

Friday, March 7

Florida Gulf Coast

Time: 8 a.m.

Site: Fort Myers, Florida

History: FIU leads, 9-2

No. 20 Stetson

Time: 12 p.m.

Site: Fort Myers, Florida

History: FIU leads, 12-3

Saturday, March 8

South Carolina

Time: 8 a.m.

Site: Fort Myers, Florida

History: FIU leads, 7-5

No. 19 North Florida

Time: 2 p.m.

Site: Fort Myers, Florida

History: FIU leads 10-0

FIU will kick off the tournament against FGCU, who have had a middling start to the season with a 3-3 record. The Eagles dropped their match to then-ranked No. 8 LSU but bounced back with two straight wins, defeating Southern Miss 5-0 and North Alabama 4-1. Florida Gulf Coast then fell to both then-ranked No. 6 Florida State and the 2024 DII National Champions, Tampa, before securing a 5-0 win over Eckerd.

In the second match of Day 1, the Panthers will face their first ranked opponent of the invite, No. 20 Stetson. Like FIU, the Hatters have started strong with a 6-2 record. They had a perfect start to their season at the Stetson Spring Fling, where they defeated Mercer, Nebraska, S.F. Austin, and Eckerd, 5-0. However, in their next tournament in Tucson, Stetson lost to then-ranked No. 18 Grand Canyon and No. 11 Arizona State, before bouncing back with a 3-2 win over Arizona and a 5-0 victory against Oregon.

Day 2 will feature FIU facing South Carolina in the opening match. The Gamecocks have had an impressive 4-1 start, with their only loss coming to then-ranked No. 18 North Florida. They then won two straight matches, beating UNCW and Jacksonville 4-1, followed by dominant wins over Austin Peay (5-0) and UAB (3-2) at their home Wheeler Beach Bash invite.

FIU's final match of the invite will be against No. 19 North Florida. The Ospreys come into the match with a perfect 8-0 record. They've defeated South Carolina 3-2, USF 5-0, UNCW 4-1, and Jacksonville 5-0. At the Duuuval Duals in Jacksonville, North Florida started the tournament with a 3-2 win over Mercer and a 5-0 victory against Saint Leo. They continued their dominance by beating Chattanooga and Jacksonville 5-0 on day two.

After starting the season 0-2, FIU has bounced back with six straight wins, including two victories over then-ranked No. 14 Washington and No. 12 Florida Atlantic. Several Panthers have been on fire this season, especially the freshman-sophomore duo of Brianna Luoma and Katarina Drozd, who are a perfect 8-0 together. Meanwhile, junior Kendra Brown and senior Zoe Cahill went 4-0 at the FIU invite this past weekend.

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