04/24/2026

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The Florida Gulf Coast University beach volleyball team (20-16) saw its season come to a close Friday morning, falling 3-0 to No. 14 Stetson University (27-9) in the semifinals of the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship at John Hunt Park.

The top-seeded Hatters secured the dual victory with three straight-set wins to advance to the conference final. Stetson went on to win the ASUN Championship 3-0 against No. 17 North Florida on Friday afternoon.

Stetson opened the scoring on Court 1, where Marta Carro and Maria Ozaeta defeated FGCU’s Alexis Keeter and Ava Lilliquist, 21-15, 21-19. The lead doubled shortly after on Court 5 as Madeline Camp and Cayla Sutton held off Vanessa Moriarty and Emma Soncrant in a 21-17, 21-18 decision.

The Hatters officially clinched the match on Court 3. Julia Czurylo and Zoe Flueckiger secured the final point for Stetson, topping Andrea Dietz and Sydney Majick, 21-15, 21-19.

Per conference tournament rules, the remaining matches on Courts 2 and 4 were left unfinished once the dual was decided. While the scoreboard showed a sweep, the Eagles were mounting a comeback on the remaining courts before the clinch. 

On Court 2, senior Nicole De Oliveira and Erin Miller dropped their first set 21-16 to Emma-Joy Cudmore and Julia Radelczuk, but showed resilience to take a marathon second set 24-22. 

Meanwhile, on Court 4, seniors Kaitlyn Beck and Kristina Gluc had claimed a 21-18 opening set victory over Katie Camp and Anniina Muukka before dropping the second 21-14.

Both the Court 2 and Court 4 pairs were locked in the heat of third-set tiebreakers when play was halted.

The duo of De Oliveira and Miller were both named to the ASUN All-Tournament Team for their performance throughout the championship. They were among the few selections to earn the honor despite not appearing in the conference final.

“Nothing takes the pain away from a loss that close, just like the other day,” FGCU head coach Chris Sweat told FGCU Athletics. “But I want to say thank you to our seniors (De Oliveira, Beck and Gluc) for absolutely battling today and leaving it all on the court, with all three of them leading in the third set. I couldn’t have asked for a better group.”

Friday’s match signaled the end of the road for seniors De Oliveira, Beck and Gluc. De Oliveira hangs up her jersey with 79 wins, matching Trinity Rosales for the third-highest total in school history. Meanwhile, Beck reached a career milestone of 80 combined victories between FGCU and ULM, while Gluc leaves her mark with 38 wins in just over two seasons as an Eagle.