FORT MYERS, Fla. – Jaci Carpenter, a cornerstone of the Florida Gulf Coast University beach volleyball program for the past four years, was named the Atlantic Sun Conference Female Student-Athlete of the Year at the ASUN Awards Ceremony on Thursday night.

To be considered for one of the conference's highest honors, a student-athlete must excel in academics, athletics and service. Carpenter's résumé at FGCU and in the Southwest Florida community is unmatched.

"With the amount of amazing female athletes that our conference has, to be named the Female Student-Athlete of the Year for the ASUN is a tremendous honor," FGCU head beach volleyball coach Chris Sweat said. "Jaci put in so much work all four years on the sand and in the classroom. She has been a part of so many extracurricular activities. It makes us very happy to see all of her hard work pay off."

Academically, Carpenter was named the ASUN Beach Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She graduated summa cum laude with a perfect 4.0 GPA in communications. She capped her career with two of the highest honors bestowed on an FGCU student-athlete: the Kavanagh Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award and induction into the university's 2025 Hall of Fame class.

In service, Carpenter was a dedicated volunteer with numerous nonprofit organizations, consistently giving back to FGCU and the local community. After Hurricane Ian struck in 2022, she contributed and coordinated more than 30 hours of volunteer work to assist local students and residents. She also led the bone marrow registration initiative within athletics and across campus and co-founded the "See Her Soar" initiative, which promotes professional development, mentorship and networking for female student-athletes. In 2024, she received the FGCU Athletics Community Service Award. Despite living with Type 1 diabetes, Carpenter consistently prioritized others, logging more than 120 service hours in her senior year and over 300 during her collegiate career.

"I'm so honored to have earned this award," Carpenter said. "The ASUN Conference is so special and everyone in it provides the opportunities, resources and support for us to be well-rounded athletes and to be high achievers in the classroom, on the court and in the community."

Carpenter's impact extended beyond the court and classroom. She served as president of the FGCU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and chaired the ASUN's advisory committee. She was also a mentor through Adaptive Services and represented student-athletes on the university's Hazing and Prevention Team. She will pursue a master's degree in recreation and sports management at the University of Tennessee, with aspirations of becoming an athletic director.

"Despite Jaci's many exceptional accomplishments, I am particularly impressed with her humility and genuine concern for others," said Dr. Thomas Roberts, FGCU's faculty athletics representative. "Her overall academic, service, leadership and athletic achievements are profound. She is an engaged and caring leader. Her teammates, fellow students, coaches, professors and administrators revere her."

On the court in 2025, Carpenter helped lead FGCU to a semifinal appearance in the ASUN Tournament and victories over four ranked opponents. The Eagles upset No. 14 FIU, No. 15 Georgia State and No. 15 Florida Atlantic twice. Carpenter played a key role in FGCU's rise to a top-20 national ranking. The team finished the season 22-13, peaking at No. 18. Carpenter opened the season with a thrilling win over No. 8 LSU and competed primarily at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, finishing her senior year with a 21-13 record. She won more than 73 matches in her career—becoming just the fourth player in program history to surpass 70 wins.

"I wouldn't have been able to achieve this without my FGCU family - the athletes I'm around who inspire me every day, my coach and administrators who give us the space to grow and my friends and family who support me when I need it the most," said Carpenter.