FGCU Sand Volleyball

With the spring semester winding down by each day, it doesn't stop people watching beach volleyball. FGCU's sand volleyball team went 4-11 last year and are coached by Matt Botsford from indoor voleyball. For some people, it is considered to be "spring training," especially for the team that has 9 players from the indoor volleyball team: Karissa Rhodes, Ella Kazarian, Marlene Moeller, Vanessa Benke, Caroline Jordan, Amanda Carroll, Leigh Pudwill, Kaiti Krivdo and Elisa Anne Aldrich. Mackenzie Allen is from indoor; however, as this past season ended, she will only be doing sand volleyball next season. Although Vanessa, Ella and Marlene have been on the team before, there are 4 players that are on the sand volleyball team: Madi Wilcox, Katherine Puisis, Kellie Pernula and Ashley Glickert.


The first player mentioned is Madi Wilcox. Wilcox is a5'10" junior from Mundelein, Illinois. As a freshman on the team, Madi went 7-15 with notable wins over teams like Tulane, FAU and Mercer. This year for Madi will change.


Next is Katherine Puisis. the 5'11" freshman from Mason, Ohio has good instinct with the team. She went to William Mason High School and played under Tiann Myer. There, Katie was named to the Second Team All-Conference in Ohio her freshman year, First Team All-Conference in her sophomore to senior year, First Team All-District as a junior and senior and Third Team All-State and the Conference Player of the Year. In addition, she was ranked first in Ohio in the U16 and U18 standings and finished top 20 at the JBT Nationals in Milwaukee. With her experience, Katie can bring a spark to the team.


Kellie Pernula is a perfect fit for the sand volleyball team. The 5'7" freshman from Plant City, Florida can bring it to the limit. Pernula went to Plant City High School. There she played volleyball under head coach Jessica Thorton. As a senior there, Kellie was named to the All-Conference and All-County teams. Kellie also played club volleyball for the Tampa United Volleyball Academy winning MVP 3 times. Kellie definitely has the tools for the team.


Last, but never least is Ashley Glickert. The 5'10" junior from Chesterfield, Missouri can show you what shes got. Unfortunately on the FGCU Athletics page, there is no info on her, but there is no doubt in my mind that she will show the fans what shes all about.

For sand volleyball, teaming with some of the indoor volleyball players is a really nice feeling for them and for the indoor volleyball players, teaming with the beach volleyball players helps them out for next season. People would underestimate Beach Volleyball and would think of it as a game just for the fun of it, but seeing these girls play is much more different than you would think. So if you think that the FGCU Beach Volleyball team is not a great sport to watch, you better think again because they can most likely beat you in a heartbeat.