Final Stats (PDF)

MIAMI (Oct. 15, 2013) – The FIU volleyball team (8-11) dropped a five-set, 3-2 (16-25, 25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 18-16), loss to Florida Gulf Coast (9-11) on Tuesday evening on Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena.

FIU took a 1-0 lead with a 25-16 set one victory. The Panthers jumped out to a 7-2 lead; however, FGCU battled back to pull within one, 12-11. Led by sophomore Lucia Castro's eight kills, FIU out-scored the Eagles, 13-5, for the set-one victory. Redshirt junior Jessica Egan notched a team-best 12 assists in the match, while redshirt junior Ksenia Sukhareva and sophomore Adriana McLamb each notched five digs.

Set two saw FGCU tie the contest up at 1-all, with a 25-22 score. The Eagles scored the first six points of the set and continued to increase their lead with a 10-2 advantage. FIU battled back to pull within three points at 16-13 and trailed by just two at 22-20; however, FGCU held on for the 25-22 win. The Panthers hit .022 in the set with Castro and Sukhareva leading the way with three kills apiece. McLamb had a team-high four digs in the set.

The Eagles took a 2-1 lead following a 25-23, set-three victory. In a closely-contested set which saw seven tied scores, FIU and FGCU were even at 18-18, but, the Eagles out-scored the Panthers, 7-5, to close out set three, 25-23. Senior Kimberly Smith notched s team-best five kills for FIU in the set. Egan added to her assist total, registering 11, while Egan, McLamb and junior Martyna Gluchowicz tallied three digs each.  

The Panthers tied the contest 2-2, with a 25-22 set four win. FIU's Smith was a huge part of the fourth set victory recording eight kills with a .577 hitting percentage. Egan added 13 assists to increase her match total to 46. The Germantown, Md., native also notched a team-best five digs in the set.

The Eagles clinched the match with an 18-16 fifth-set win. Castro collected three kills in the set, with 20 for the match, tying her career high (20 vs. Florida A&M – 8/25/12). Egan registered seven assists in the set, and Gluchowicz added five more digs for a career-high 18 on the night.

FIU was led offensively by Castro's 20 kills, followed by Smith's 17. Egan finished the night with 53 assists, a season high. The Panthers hit .177 on the night to FGCU's .163 hitting percentage. The Eagles held a 68-58 edge in kills, while the Panthers out-blocked FGCU, 9.0-7.0.

The Panthers next host C-USA foe Florida Atlantic on Friday, Oct. 18. The match is set for 6:00 p.m. ET. Tickets can be purchased by logging onto FIUSports.com or by calling the FIU Ticket Office at 305-FIU-GAME.

Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUVolleyball) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUVolleyball) for all the latest FIU volleyball news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics). The official FIU Athletics hashtag for the 2013-14 athletics year is #PantherNation.
 
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. 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 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida¹s 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. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/