Box Score TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Sept. 1, 2012) – Senior Marija Prsa and junior Kimberly Smith led the FIU volleyball team to its first straight-set win of the season on Saturday morning at the Al Lawson Center, as the Panthers defeated the Florida A&M Rattlers, 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-20) in the final contest of the FSU Volleyball Invitational. With the win, FIU improves to 2-4 on the season while FAMU falls to 0-5.

Both teams came to play in set one, battling back and forth until FIU took a 20-17 lead. FAMU tallied a kill to make it 20-18, and the Panthers bounced back with two-straight points, putting the score at 22-18. An FIU attack error would then make it 22-19, before a hard kill from the right side by freshman Gloria Levorin put the score at 23-19. The teams then traded points, and a Panther blocking error allowed FAMU to get within two at 23-21.

Following an FIU timeout, freshman Lucia Castro came through with a kill to put the Panthers in set-point position at 24-21. A block by Prsa and sophomore Silvia Carli would then give FIU a 25-21 set win and a 1-0 lead for the match.

Set two saw the Panthers jump out to a 19-12 advantage, and a kill by Levorin made it 20-12. FAMU would then pick up a block to put the score at 20-13, before freshman Ashlee Hodgskin passed to Castro for a score to make it 21-13. The Rattlers then scored two-straight points to bring up a 21-15 score, and force an FIU timeout.

Out of the break, the teams traded service errors, and then traded kills, putting the score at 23-17. A kill by Prsa would then bring up set point for FIU at 24-17, before Hodgskin passed to Smith in the middle for a score as the Panthers came away with a 25-17 set-two victory, and a 2-0 match advantage.

In the third set, a kill from Carli put FIU on top by three at 19-16 before a score from Prsa made it 20-16. FAMU got the point back on a kill and Prsa posted two-straight kills from the left side to put the score at 22-17. A double-hit call on the Rattlers would then make it 23-17 but FAMU bounced back with a pair of kills to bring up a 23-19 score. A score from Smith brought up match point for FIU at 24-19 and FAMU managed one more point before a kill by Prsa gave the Panthers a 25-20 set win and a 3-0 match victory.

Prsa led the FIU offense with 16 kills and added a career-high-tying 19 digs to mark her third double-double of the year and 13th of her career. The Panthers hit at a clip of .375 (51-9-112) to mark a season-high, as Prsa made just two errors in 34 attempts (.412) and Smith notched 13 kills against zero errors in 24 total attempts (.542).

Hodgskin totaled a career-high and team-best 41 assists for the match, also recording one service ace along with Castro, Levorin, senior Ryanne Milligan and sophomore Carolyn Fouts.

FIU out-blocked FAMU, 5.0-4.0, led by Smith's four blocks, a total which included one solo stop. Carli chipped in with three block assists and Prsa tallied a pair of blocks on the day. In the digs category, Prsa's 19 digs marked a team-high and Milligan registered 15 digs.

FIU returns to action next weekend, when the Panthers travel to Fort Collins, Colo., for the Rams Volleyball Classic, hosted by Colorado State. On Friday, Sept. 7, FIU will face New Mexico State (6:30 p.m. ET), and the Panthers will then take on CSU (3 p.m. ET) and Pepperdine (7 p.m. ET) on Saturday, Sept. 8. Stay tuned to FIUSports.com for more 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