Box Score Photo credit: Richard Lewis
BOX SCORE (PDF) / CUMULATIVE STATISTICS (PDF)
BOCA RATON, Fla. (Oct. 3, 2012) – Three Panthers registered double-doubles on Wednesday night at FAU Arena, propelling FIU to a 3-2 (25-20, 17-25, 23-25, 25-20, 15-10) victory over Sun Belt Conference and local rival Florida Atlantic. With the win, FIU improves to 5-12 (2-3 SBC), while FAU falls to 4-11 (0-5 SBC).
Junior Kimberly Smith led the FIU offense with a career-high 15 kills, while senior Marija Prsa chipped in with 14 kills. Prsa added team-highs of 23 digs and three service aces, both marking career-bests, and the double-double marks her seventh of the season and 17th of her career.
Also posting double-doubles were redshirt senior Renele Forde (22 assists, 18 digs) and senior Ryanne Milligan (20 assists, 14 digs). The double-doubles mark the second of each player's career.
Sophomore Carolyn Fouts added 13 digs in the win, and classmate Paola Ortiz contributed 12 digs, as FIU had five players contribute double-digit digs on the night. As a team, the Panthers registered 92 digs, marking a season-high.
FIU also had a stellar blocking night, posting a season-high 15 stops. The Panther blocking corps was led by Smith, who contributed a career-high nine total blocks, including one solo stop, while Forde added a career-best eight blocks.
After FIU won set one, 25-20, FAU fought back to knot the match at 1-1 by way of a 25-17 victory in the second stanza. Set three saw both teams come to play, with the squads battling to a 22-22 tie. An Owl service ace and a Panther attack error then brought up set point for FAU at 24-22, and the Panthers stayed alive on a kill by Smith, but FAU posted the final score of the set to take a 25-23 set win.
Down 2-1 for the match, FIU knotted the overall score at 2-2 as the Panthers closed out the fourth stanza on a 3-0 run, taking the set by a score of 25-20.
In the final stanza, FIU notched 11 kills against two errors in 21 attempts for a set attack percentage of .429, going on for a 15-10 set win and a 3-2 match victory. In the decisive set, the Panthers held the opposition to an attack percentage of .130, as the Owls tallied just seven kills against four errors in 23 attempts for the period.
FIU returns to action on Friday, when the Panthers host SBC foe Louisiana at U.S. Century Bank Arena. First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m.
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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