FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Florida Gulf Coast University volleyball team continued its winning ways on Tuesday night, picking up a 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-17) win over UNF at Alico Arena. The win marks the second consecutive year and fifth time in program history that the Eagles have opened A-Sun play with a perfect 3-0 record.

The Green and Blue, who are now 12-2 all-time against UNF, improved to 7-7 overall (3-0 A-Sun), while the Ospreys fell to 8-7 overall (0-3 A-Sun).

Sophomore’s Jill Hopper (Muncie, Ind./Yorktown HS) and Olivia Mesner (Boca Raton, Fla./Spanish River HS) each recorded a team-high eight kills. Juniors Christine Pinder (Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz HS/Houston/Central Florida CC) and Kaitlin Holm (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers HS/Marshall) chipped in with seven kills and eight digs and seven kills and a pair of blocks, respectively. Sophomore setter Gigi Meyer (Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz HS) finished with 21 assists and four digs, while sophomore libero Whitney Masters (Muncie, Ind./Wapahani HS) tallied 12 digs.
 
Trailing 14-10 in the first set, the Ospreys used a 3-0 run to pull within one point (14-13). After the teams battled to a 17-17 tie, the Eagles used an 8-2 run, highlighted by a kill and a service ace by Hopper, to take the first set (25-19).
 
The Green and Blue used several scoring spurts to pull away from UNF in the second set. Following back-to-back points by the Ospreys to tie the set at 11-11, the Eagles used a huge 14-4 run to pick up a 25-15 victory in the second set. Holm and junior Karina Mambuca (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS/Southeastern) each recorded a pair of kills in FGCU’s set clinching run.
 
In the third set, the Eagles shot out to an 18-10 lead to open the game. The Ospreys would not go away quietly, as they used a 4-0 run to claw their way back into the set (18-14). After head coach Dave Nichols burned a timeout, the Green and Blue employed a 7-3 run, capped by a Pinder kill, to win the set 25-17 and the match 3-0.
 
FGCU will be back in action this weekend when they welcome ETSU and USC Upstate to 'The Nest'. The Eagles face the Bucs on Friday, Sept. 28 at 6 p.m., followed by a Saturday, Sept. 29 battle against the Spartans (7 p.m.).