Pictured: Nicole Beckelheimer (Photo credit: Richard Lewis)
FIU STATS PACKAGE (PDF)
MIAMI, Fla. (Oct. 4, 2012) – Fresh off Wednesday's five-set win over Florida Atlantic, the FIU volleyball squad (5-12, 2-3 SBC) returns home to host Sun Belt Conference foe Louisiana (9-10, 1-3 SBC) on Friday night. First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m. at U.S. Century Bank Arena. Live stats and a free live video feed can be accessed via www.FIUSports.com, and fans can also follow @FIUVolleyball on Twitter for live updates.
LAST TIME OUT – FIU got back in the win column on Wednesday night in Boca Raton, Fla., as the Panthers came away with a hard-fought, 3-2 (25-20, 17-25, 23-25, 25-20, 15-10), victory over Sun Belt Conference and local rival Florida Atlantic. Junior Kimberly Smith led FIU with career-high marks of 15 kills and nine blocks, while senior Marija Prsa chipped in with 14 kills and added career-high-tying totals of 23 digs and three service aces to mark her seventh double-double of the season and 17th of her career. Also posting double-doubles, each for the second time in their career, were redshirt senior Renele Forde (22 assists, 18 digs) and senior Ryanne Milligan (20 assists, 14 digs). Forde also contributed a career-high eight blocks on the night.
DEFENDING "THE BANK" – FIU owns a record of 66-13 since 2005 when playing in the friendly confines of the U.S. Century Bank Arena (formerly known as Pharmed Arena). The Panthers have not dropped more than three contests at home in a season during that time period. Thus far, FIU is 1-1 at home in 2012.
SCOUTING UL – Louisiana has lost its last three matches, as the Ragin' Cajuns are 9-10 overall and 1-3 in Sun Belt Conference action heading into Friday's contest. The UL offense is led by Lavinia Tataran (176 kills, 2.55 kps) and Mandi Gavin (654 assists, 9.48 aps), and Gavin also owns a team-leading 28 service aces (0.41 aps). Defensively, the Ragin' Cajuns are led by Caitlyn Auxilien (291 digs, 4.22 dps) and Blair Claypoole (51 blocks, 0.74 bps). UL is under the direction of Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot (Central Oklahoma, 1992) for the fifth season.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS UL – Excluding a 2003 Panther victory, which was vacated due to NCAA sanctions, Louisiana leads the all-time series with FIU by a narrow 8-7 margin. The Panthers have won six of the last seven matches in the series, but the Ragin' Cajuns came away with the win a season ago (3-2, on 11/6/11).
NEXT UP – FIU will return to action next weekend when the Panthers hit the road for a pair of SBC contests at WKU (Oct. 12, 7 p.m. ET) and Middle Tennessee (Oct. 13, 8 p.m. ET).
KEEPING UP WITH THE PANTHERS – Fans can visit www.FIUSports.com, follow @FIUVolleyball on Twitter, and "Like" FIU volleyball on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/FIUVolleyball) for the latest Panther volleyball news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), Pinterest (FIUAthletics), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
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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