Box Score TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Aug. 31, 2012) – The FIU volleyball team fell to Georgia, 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-20), on Friday afternoon at the FSU Volleyball Invitational, held at Tully Gymnasium in Tallahassee, Fla. With the loss, the Panthers fall to 1-3 on the season while the Bulldogs improve to 4-0.

FIU ran out to an early lead in set one, but UGA battled back to go ahead, 20-16. Junior Kimberly Smith came through with a kill to make it 20-17 but the Bulldogs retaliated with back-to-back points to put the score at 22-17. The Panthers would then pick up three-straight points to cut the deficit to two at 22-20, before UGA tallied a pair of scores to bring up set point at 24-20. A final kill by the Bulldogs gave UGA a 25-20 set win and a 1-0 lead for the match

Set two saw FIU come back from an early deficit to knot the score at 9-9, but UGA re-gained the lead and extended its advantage to 21-14. Two-consecutive Bulldog scores
then made it 23-14, and an FIU attack error put UGA in set-point position at 24-14. Senior Marija Prsa kept the Panthers alive, coming through the middle for a kill. Prsa then combined with Smith for a block to make it 24-16. The Bulldogs would then tally a kill to take away a 25-16 set win and a 2-0 match advantage.

In set three, UGA took a 17-11 lead before a tip by freshman Gloria Levorin made it 17-12. Levorin would then notch her first-career service ace to make it 17-13, and a block by Smith and sophomore Silvia Carli put the score at 17-14. The teams traded points before the Bulldogs tallied two-straight scores to put the deficit back to five at 20-15. A
Georgia attack error would then make it 20-16, before freshman Lucia Castro put the gap to three at 20-17 on a kill. The Bulldogs then posted another attack error, putting the score at 20-18 and forcing a UGA timeout.

Out of the break, the teams went back and forth, trading points and putting the score at 23-21. UGA would then tally a kill to bring up match point at 24-21. Following an FIU timeout, a Bulldog service error made it 24-22 before UGA scored the final point of the match, coming away with a 25-22 set win and a 3-0 match victory.

Castro led the FIU offense with 10 kills to mark her third-straight double-digit kill outing, while freshman Ashlee Hodgskin registered a team-leading 12 assists and redshirt sophomore Jessica Egan chipped in with 11 helpers. Levorin, Prsa and senior Ryanne Milligan each registered one service ace for the match.

Defensively, Smith recorded five blocks, including one solo block, while Levorin and Prsa added three blocks apiece. Leading the Panthers in the digs category was freshman April Sicam with eight, and Prsa and Milligan each contributed five digs on the day.

FIU continues action at the FSU Volleyball Invitational on Friday evening when the Panthers take on the No. 8-ranked Florida State Seminoles. First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Tully Gymnasium, and live stats will be available at Seminoles.com.

Visit FIUSports.com for the latest FIU volleyball news. Fans can also follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUVolleyball) and Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUVolleyball).

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/