Pictured: Redshirt senior Renele Forde (Photo Credit: Richard Lewis)

BOX SCORE (PDF) / CUMULATIVE STATISTICS (PDF)

MIAMI, Fla. (Oct. 28, 2012) – The FIU volleyball squad fell to Sun Belt Conference foe Middle Tennessee, 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-22), on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Century Bank Arena. With the loss, the Panthers fall to 7-17 overall and 4-8 in SBC play, while the Blue Raiders improve to 9-20 overall and 6-6 in league action.

The first set saw the two squads battle to a 19-19 tie before MT posted three-straight points to go ahead, 22-19. The teams then traded points and a Blue Raider service error brought FIU to within two at 23-21, but MT retaliated with back-to-back kills to take away a 25-21 set win and a 1-0 lead for the match.

In the second stanza, the teams once again fought to a tie at 19-19, and then to 20-20, before the Blue Raiders registered five-straight points to end the set, coming away with a 25-20 set victory and going ahead 2-0 for the contest.

The third set saw 10 tie scores and five lead changes, with the final tie coming at 22-22. MT's Chelsea Ross would then post three-consecutive kills to end the match, as the Blue Raiders won set three, 25-22, and swept the match, 3-0.

Freshman Lucia Castro led the FIU offense with nine kills, while senior Marija Prsa chipped in with eight kills. Redshirt senior Renele Forde posted a team-high 14 assists, and Castro and freshman Gloria Levorin each tallied one service ace on the day.

Defensively, the FIU blocking corps tied a season-high for the second time in two matches with 17 blocks. Junior Brittany Spencer registered a team-leading eight blocks, including one solo stop, while junior Kimberly Smith (4 BA, 1 BS) and Forde (3 BA, 2 BS) added five blocks apiece. As a team, MT recorded 11 blocks.

FIU will return to action next weekend when the Panthers host the Florida Atlantic Owls on Saturday, Nov. 3. First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m. at U.S. Century Bank Arena.

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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