Pictured: Sophomore Paola Ortiz (Photo credit: Richard Lewis)

BOX SCORE (PDF)
Note: Correct set two score is 25-14.

TAMPA, Fla. (Sept. 15, 2012) – The FIU volleyball team picked up its second shutout victory of the season on Saturday morning with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-17) win over Bethune-Cookman at the USF Tournament in Tampa, Fla. With the win, the Panthers improve to 3-7, while the Wildcats fall to 0-15 on the season.

The first set saw the two teams battle to a 16-16 tie before FIU tallied three-straight points to take a 19-16 lead, forcing a B-CU timeout. Out of the break, the Wildcats bounced back with two-consecutive scores to get within one at 19-18. The Panthers would then go on a 6-0 run to close out the stanza, taking away a 25-18 set win and going ahead, 1-0, for the match.

In set two, FIU jumped out to an 18-12 advantage. Following a B-CU timeout, freshmen Gloria Levorin and Lucia Castro combined for a block to make it 19-12, and a Wildcat attack error put the score at 20-12. Another block from Levorin and junior Brittany Spencer extended the Panthers' advantage to 21-12, and the Wildcats countered with a pair of points to bring up a 21-14 score. Three-straight points would then put FIU in set-point position at 24-14 before freshman Ashlee Hodgskin passed to Castro for a kill to give the Panthers a 25-14 set victory and a 2-0 match advantage.

With the score knotted at 17-17 in set three, FIU used a 7-0 run to bring up match point at 24-17. Sophomore Paola Ortiz would then tally her second service ace of the match to give FIU a 25-17 set win and a 3-0 match victory.

Junior Kimberly Smith led the FIU offense with 11 kills, as she committed just two errors in 21 total attempts for a .429 attack percentage. Hodgskin registered a team-leading 26 assists on the day and Ortiz notched a pair of service aces for a career high and a squad best.

Defensively, Levorin tied a career high with a team-high five blocks, while Spencer, getting her first-career start against the Wildcats, added four stops. As a team, FIU out-blocked B-CU, 7-3, for the match. Senior Ryanne Milligan led the Panthers in the digs category with 10.

FIU will return to action at the USF Tournament on Saturday evening when the Panthers take on James Madison at 5 p.m. Live stats will be available at www.GoUSFBulls.com.

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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