Pictured: Sophomore Carolyn Fouts (Photo Credit: Richard Lewis)

BOX SCORE (PDF) / CUMULATIVE STATISTICS (PDF)

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (Oct. 12, 2012) – The FIU volleyball squad suffered a 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-16) loss to No. 20 WKU on Friday night at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky. With the loss, the Panthers fall to 5-14 overall and 2-5 in Sun Belt Conference play, while the Hilltoppers improve to 21-3 overall and 7-0 in league action.

With WKU leading the opening stanza, 17-12, senior Marija Prsa connected for a kill following an FIU timeout, but the Hilltoppers got the point back on a kill of their own, putting the score at 18-12. The teams would then trade points, and WKU registered four-straight scores to bring up a 23-13 score. Junior Brittany Spencer registered a kill to make it 23-14, before a Hilltopper kill brought up set-point at 24-14. A Panther attack error would then end the stanza, with WKU coming away with a 25-14 set win and a 1-0 match lead.

In set two, WKU ran out to a 20-12 advantage, and a pair of FIU errors pushed the advantage to 22-12. WKU would then commit two errors of their own to make it 22-14 before the Hilltoppers slammed down a kill to put the score at 23-14. Junior Kimberly Smith would then come through with back-to-back kills, Prsa repeated the effort, and a WKU attack error made it five-straight points for the Panthers, bringing up a 23-19 score. However, the Hilltoppers would quickly recover, going on for a 24-19 set win and 2-0 lead for the match.

The third set saw WKU take a 20-13 lead, and the teams traded points to make it 21-14. Prsa would then pick up a solo block to put the score at 21-15 but WKU scored three-straight points to get to match-point at 24-15. FIU managed one more point before the Hilltoppers came away with a 25-16 set win and a 3-0 match victory.

Prsa led the Panther offense with 12 kills, while senior Ryanne Milligan registered a team-leading 18 assists. Defensively, sophomore Carolyn Fouts posted a squad-best 17 digs, and Prsa led the FIU blocking corps with four blocks, including a career-high-tying two solo stops.

FIU will return to action on Saturday when the Panthers take on Sun Belt Conference rival Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro, Tenn. First serve is slated for 8 p.m. ET at Alumni Memorial Gym. Fans can follow along with live stats, live audio and live video at www.GoBlueRaiders.com/live or by following @FIUVolleyball on Twitter.

About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports, and is a proud member of the Sun Belt Conference and an affiliate member of Conference USA (men's soccer). Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools 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 is worlds ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission and enrolls nearly 48,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. More than 140,000 alumni live and work in South Florida. FIU is a member of the Sun Belt Conference and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.

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