FGCU Schedule Includes Nov 4-5 Battle With Former Coach & FSU

The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles have released their 2016-2017 schedule, highlighted by a home November matchup with FSU and former Eagles head coach Neal Studd.

Studd was the first and only head coach at FGCU up until last year, and helped the Eagles beat in-state rivals Florida State in dual meets the past two seasons. He recently took the head coaching job at FSU to replace the departed Frank Bradley.

FGCU, now under the leadership of interim head coach Amanda Smith, will host a November 4-5 quad meet against Florida State, Florida Southern and West Florida.

That leads right in to the Georgia Tech Invite on November 17-19, which appears to be FGCU’s major mid-season invitational meet.

The Eagles, who have rapidly risen to become one of the nation’s best mid-major programs, will take on a challenging lineup that includes 8 NCAA-qualifying teams. That includes defending Pac-12 champs USC in October.

“We’re excited to finalize the schedule as the season quickly approaches,” Smith said. “Last year, we had exceptional success and beat some great programs, so we wanted to really challenge the girls with a competitive schedule this season. It will be great to compete primarily at home as we love seeing the community and Eagle fans in our stands. We’re also particularly excited for the second annual FGCU Classic as well as traveling West to compete against USC and spend some time in LA.”

Here’s the full schedule, which you can also view on the FGCU website here.