The Basics
- The FIU beach volleyball team had its season come to a disappointing end on Friday afternoon in the elimination dual of the 2018 NCAA Beach Volleyball National Championships in Gulf Shores, Alabama, but the Panthers did themselves proud and didn't go down without a fight in an epic 3-2 loss to the three-time National Champion USC. The loss eliminates the Panthers and ends their season with a record of 22-12.
NCAA Elimination Round Details
(5) USC 3, (8) FIU 2
FIU (22-12), USC (26-13)
Gulf Shores, Alabama | Gulf Place
- The Panthers battled the Women of Troy to a 2-2 tie after four matches, with wins coming at the No. 3 position with
Katie Friesen and
Anabela Sataric (21-17, 21-13), and at court No. 4 with
Taija Thomas and
Dorina Klinger coming out on top (21-18, 21-14).
- The season for both FIU and Southern California came down to one court, court No. 5, and an epic three-set thriller, with the Panthers'
Erika Zembyla and
Lina Bernier, that played out in front of a standing room only crowd and on national television. USC's Terese Cannon and Sammy Slater took the first set, 21-19, however, the tandem affectionately called "The Beach Rat" (Bernier) and "The Beast" (Zembyla) came back in the second set and continued to show great intensity, knotting the match up at one set apiece with a 21-17 victory. In the final set, each side went back-and-forth before Cannon and Slater strung multiple points together at the end to secure the win.
Results
No. 1 – Tina Gaudina/Abril Bustamante (USC) def.
Federica Frasca/
Margherita Bianchin (FIU) 21-13, 21-15
No. 2 – Terese Cannon/Sammy Slater (USC) def.
Lina Bernier/
Erika Zembyla (FIU) 19-21, 21-17, 15-12
No. 3 –
Katie Friesen/
Anabela Sataric (FIU) def. Joy Dennis/Cammie Dorn (USC) 21-17, 21-13
No. 4 –
Taija Thomas/
Dorina Klinger (FIU) def. Alexandra Poletto/Haley Haligren (USC) 21-18, 21-14
No. 5 – Jenna Belton/Maja Kaiser (USC) def.
Natalia Giron/
Estefanie Bethancourt (FIU) 21-18, 21-18
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