Courtesy: Florida Gulf Coast Athletics
LAKEPOINT, Ga. – Brooke Youngquist Sweat, who starred as a member of the FGCU volleyball team from 2004-07 and has since become one of the world’s best beach volleyball players by appearing in the 2016 Rio Olympics, has been selected as a member of the fourth-annual ASUN Conference Hall of Fame class.
“I was so surprised when I heard the news,” Youngquist Sweat said. “I am very honored to be joining some amazing athletes in the ASUN Hall of Fame. I’d like to thank the committee for recognizing my time at FGCU and for the nomination. Also, thank you to FGCU for providing me the opportunity to play the sport I love at the collegiate level and for their continued support during my professional career.”
Youngquist Sweat, who will be officially inducted during an Oct. 22 ceremony on the campus of new ASUN member University of North Alabama, becomes the first female and only the second FGCU student-athlete overall to join the conference’s hall of fame – joining current Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale, who was a member of the inaugural class in 2015. She will enter with a class that also includes Kennesaw State’s Laura Tucker (women’s soccer), Stetson’s Taryn (Lynn) Morgan (tennis, volleyball), FAU’s Joan Joyce (softball, women’s golf) and Mercer’s Sam Mitchell (basketball).
Youngquist Sweat is a four-time AVP Defensive Player of the Year (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017) and a member of one of just two USA beach volleyball pairs in the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio. She is a 10-time worldwide winner and has more than 30 podium finishes (top three) across multiple professional tours. She finished 2017 ranked seventh in the world and is a three-time winner of AVP Tour Championships. She had a career-best FIVB World Tour finish of second in 2017, and she played in four AVP Tour stops in 2017, winning one and finishing second twice. Furthermore, she recorded fifth-place finishes in both the 2015 and 2017 FIVB World Championships, and she has 20 top-five finishes on the FIVB World Tour. In 2011, she was named the Florida Region Player of the Year.
“We are so excited for Brooke and this extremely well-earned recognition,” FGCU Director of Athletics Ken Kavanagh said. “She continues to be a phenomenal ambassador for not only FGCU Athletics, but our entire University and the ASUN as a whole.”
As a member of FGCU’s indoor team, Youngquist Sweat compiled 1,173 kills, 1,369 digs, 100 aces and 50 double-doubles in her career. Her kill total stood as the most in program history until this past season when Amanda Carroll broke the record, but her kill and ace totals still rank second all-time in program history, while her dig total is fourth most – second most at the time of her graduation.
Youngquist Sweat was a freshman on the program’s inaugural team in 2004 that went 24-6 and advanced to the NCAA Division-II South Region semifinals. As a sophomore and junior, she led the team to 27-4 and 29-3 records and back-to-back South Region runner-up finishes. As a senior, she led the program’s very first Division-I team to a 23-3 record and an ASUN regular season championship.
“Brooke is such an amazing ambassador for FGCU and the sport of volleyball,” FGCU head volleyball coach Matt Botsford said. “I’m happy to see her being recognized by the ASUN as her induction into the hall of fame is a tremendous honor that further represents what a special young woman she is. Brooke’s impact within our program goes far beyond her accomplishments on the court, of which there were many. She continues to be a supporter, a fan and a resource to our team as we work to build upon the foundation that she helped create.”
The hall of fame’s fourth annual induction ceremony will take place on Oct. 22, on the campus of ASUN member University of North Alabama in Florence, Ala. Information about prior Hall of Fame inductees and the ASUN can be found at www.asunhalloffame.org. Additional bios, videos, photo galleries and news for the Class of 2018 will also be launched on the day of the ceremony.
Inductees into the ASUN Hall of Fame can be selected in one of four categories: student-athlete, coaches, administrators and as special inductees. Each year a group of nine committee members selected by each institution’s athletic administration and including one conference office representative will nominate, review and select that year’s class of inductees. The committee will induct up to five members in future classes, with no more than one honoree representing an institution or no more than one honoree representing the collective group of former institutions each year without unanimous committee approval. Any nominees who were eligible but not selected in prior years shall continue on the ballot, unless their nominating institution requests that they be removed.
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