MIAMI (April 13, 2017) – The No. 14-ranked FIU beach volleyball team (18-10, 8-4 CCSA) travel back to Tallahassee, Florida for the Florida State Alumni Weekend beach volleyball tournament this
Friday, April 14 and Saturday, April 15. The Panthers will play No. 10 Grand Canyon at
8:30 a.m. and No. 9 Stetson at
1 p.m. to open play
on Friday.
On Saturday, FIU will compete against the host Seminoles, currently ranked No. 4, at
10 a.m. and then close out the weekend against No. 2 Pepperdine at
1 p.m.
Last weekend, the Panthers returned from Tallahassee after competing in the Staybridge Suites Invitational with a 1-2 mark, defeating No. 10 Georgia State 4-1. FIU dropped its first two matches against No. 12 South Carolina, 5-0, and No. 13 TCU, 3-2.
Looking at the Antelopes: No. 10 Grand Canyon (14-6) completed play against No. 2 Pepperdine and No. 5 Long Beach State last weekend with two losses. The Antelopes were defeated by the Waves, 4-1, and the 49ers, 5-0. FIU currently leads GCU 3-0 all time, with their last match-up in 2016 that resulted in a 4-1 Panther victory. First serve is scheduled for
8:30 a.m.
Looking at the Hatters: No. 9 Stetson (15-10, 8-0 CCSA) is coming off a 4-0 weekend, with two back-to-back victories over Mercer and Coastal Carolina. The Panthers are currently 2-2 against the Hatters all-time. First serve is set for
1 p.m. on Friday.
Looking at the Seminoles: No. 4-ranked Florida State (18-6, 7-0 CCSA) posted a 3-0 sweep last weekend at its own Staybridge Suites Invitational with victories over TCU, 5-0, No. 15 Florida Atlantic, 5-0, and No. 12 South Carolina, 5-0. The last match-up between the Seminoles and the Panthers will be just 15 days difference since they met at the Fifth Annual Surf 'N Turf Invitational on March 31 in Miami Beach, a match which resulted in a 3-2 victory for Florida State. All time, the Seminoles a 4-2 lead in the series. The conference match-up is schedule to take place on
Saturday, April 15, at
10 a.m.
Looking at the Waves: Pepperdine (18-2, 9-1 CCSA), ranked second in the nation, concluded play at the Hawai'i Invitational last weekend with a 3-1 mark.
On Saturday, the Waves defeated Cal Poly, 5-0, and to the host SandBows, 3-2.
Sunday's matches were split with another 5-0 decision against Cal Poly and one loss to Hawai'i, 4-1. Pepperdine holds a 3-1 lead all-time against the Panthers. FIU will conclude the weekend facing the Waves at
1 p.m.
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About FIU Athletics
: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU:
Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
