On April 5th, Beach Volleyball head coach Chris Sweat achieved his 100th career win. He is in his sixth season as head coach but has been with the program since 2015, under Matt Botsford, and now as beach Volleyball head coach.
The Eagle enters the 2025 ASUN Tournament with a 19-11 and 6-2 conference record. No. 3 FGCU will take on No. 6 Eastern Kentucky in Huntsville, Alabama, for the tournament’s first round
Chris Sweat talked with Eagle Media about his journey as a coach and his long-term goals he hopes to achieve leading the FGCU beach volleyball program.
Q- What is your vision for this season?
A- “We’ve lost a lot of tight games, but we know we can play with anyone,” Sweat said. “This is as wide open as the ASUN has been in a long time. Of course, the perennial powerhouses, UNF and Stetson, win all the conference championships, but we’ve had great battles against them and are really looking forward to the conference [tournament].”
Q- You graduated from FGCU. What is it like coming back to coach here in the community you graduated from?
A- “It’s awesome. Where we are standing right now were fields; none of this was here,” he said. “Seeing all of this growth, seeing the four buildings for classes on campus grow…, the amazing dorms they have, all this stuff down by the Waterfront. The President and Athletic Director are doing great here.”
Q- What can be challenging about your job?
A- “Just trying to continue to grow the sport,” Sweat said. “It’s gone from absolutely nothing when I started, to getting so big now. Beach volleyball is the fastest-growing women’s sport in the country, so trying to stay competitive with everyone.”
“And with the NCAA cutting rosters to 19 next year, the schools with large rosters are going to need places to go, so I think every school is going to get so deep.”
Q- What is your favorite part of your job?
A- “I think it’s the chemistry and relationships you have with the girls,” Sweat said. “You see them come in as 17/18 year old girls coming out of high school and then coming out of college, grown women getting ready to start their lives.”
Q- How do you hope to grow your program in the coming seasons?
A- “With the new athletic director, Colin, and the president, Aysegul Timur, have been very generous over the past year, helping us with a locker room, getting a new court and helping with scholarships,” he said.
“Recruits come down, they want to be in SWFL with the warm weather and they have everything they are looking for. And this fall, we have the ability to offer scholarships for the first time as well. I think that is going to take our program to the next level.”
Q- How different is it coaching indoor volleyball vs. beach?
A- “It’s a lot more relaxed,” Sweat said. “With six people on an indoor court, you have a bigger team, everyone trying to get their spot and it’s so much more intense. Beach can get intense in the games, but the environment is more relaxed.”
Q- Any game day traditions or superstitions?
A- “I always wake up before my alarm, the girls will tell you I’m full of energy and there are three americanos in me by noon,” he said. “I watch a little game film, start my day, and know I get to coach beach volleyball for a living.”
Q- What’s your favorite place you’ve traveled for beach volleyball?
A- “Going out to Hermosa Beach is always fun,” Sweat said. “The whole atmosphere down there on the pier. They have 30 courts lined up and it feels like you are in the beach volleyball capital of the world. That and Atlantic City, which has a completely different vibe.”
Q – You go one-on-one against your college self. One set, first to 21, who’s winning?
A- “My college self smokes me, 21-0, and doesn’t let me walk off the court without me knowing it. I would get beat so bad right now it wouldn’t even be a game,” he said.
