Pictured: Senior Marija Prsa (Photo Credit: Richard Lewis)

BOX SCORE (PDF) / CUMULATIVE STATISTICS (PDF)

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (Oct. 13, 2012) – The FIU volleyball team fell to Sun Belt Conference foe Middle Tennessee, 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-20), on Saturday night at Alumni Memorial Gym. With the loss, the Panthers fall to 5-16 overall and 2-6 in league action, while the Blue Raiders improve to 7-17 overall and 3-5 in SBC play.

In the opening set, MT took a 20-13 lead, forcing an FIU timeout. Out of the break, freshman Ashlee Hodgskin passed to freshman Gloria Levorin for a kill to make it 20-14. The Blue Raiders got the point back on a kill of their own, and freshman Lucia Castro struck from the left side for a score to put the score at 21-15. MT would then notch two-straight points to make it 23-15 before Castro struck again for FIU, making it 23-16. A Blue Raider kill ensued, bringing up set point at 24-16, and a service ace would then give MT a 25-16 set win and a 1-0 lead for the match.

The second set saw MT run out to a 21-11 advantage before senior Marija Prsa came up the middle for a kill to make it 21-12. A pair of errors would then put the score at 23-12, and Prsa registered another kill to bring up a 23-13 score. The teams traded points to make it 23-14, before FIU posted two-consecutive points to put the score at 23-16. A Blue Raider kill would then put MT in set-point position at 24-16, and a final kill made it 25-16, putting MT ahead, 2-0, for the contest.

With the score tied at 14-14, MT rattled off three-straight points to take a 17-14 lead. Following a timeout, the teams traded points and a double-contact call on FIU made it 19-15, forcing a Panther timeout. Out of the break, MT tallied two-straight points to put the score at 21-15, before junior Brittany Spencer posted a hard kill from the right side to make it 21-16. The teams would then trade points to make it 22-17, and a block by Spencer and junior Kimberly Smith put the score at 22-18.

Following an FIU timeout, MT tallied a kill to go ahead, 23-18, and a score by Smith would then make it 23-19. The Blue Raiders retaliated with a score from the left side to bring up match point at 24-19, and a service error ensued, bringing the Panthers to within four at 24-20. However, an FIU attack error gave MT a 25-20 set win and a 3-0 match victory.

Prsa led the FIU offense with 16 kills while redshirt senior Renele Forde registered a team-leading 18 assists. Defensively, Smith and Prsa totaled a squad-best three blocks apiece, as Prsa tallied the Panthers' lone solo stop of the night. Leading FIU in the digs category was Forde, sophomore Carolyn Fouts and senior Ryanne Milligan with six digs each.

FIU will return to action next weekend when the Panthers hit the road for a two-match SBC road trip. FIU will take on North Texas on Friday, Oct 19, at 7:30 p.m. ET in Denton, Texas, before going up against ULM on Sunday, Oct. 21, at 2 p.m. ET in Monroe, La. Stay tuned to www.FIUSports.com for viewing information.

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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