MIAMI (Oct. 24, 2013) - The FIU volleyball team (9-12, 3-5 C-USA) closes out its second-to-last road trip of the season this weekend, facing East Carolina on Friday at 7 p.m., before traveling to LA Tech for a 1 p.m. match on Sunday.
Keeping Up with the Panthers
Live stats for Friday's match against East Carolina can be found
here, while Sunday's matinee at LA Tech can be found
here.
Last Time Out
The Panthers fell in straight-sets to Tulane on Sunday, losing 0-3. Senior
Kimberly Smith led the Panthers with six kills, followed by sophomore
Lucia Castro and junior
Brittany Mullee's five kills apiece. Redshirt junior
Jessica Egan had a team-high 15 assists, while senior
Jessica Mendoza's 11 digs were also a match-high.
For the season, Smith (218 kills, 2.99 kps) and redshirt junior Ksnenia Sukhareva (205 kills, 2.97 kps) lead the Panther offense, while Mendoza owns a team-leading mark of 225 digs (2.95 dps). Sukhareva also leads in service aces (15) and Smith anchors the FIU defense with 67 total blocks (1.10 bps), with senior CeCe Spencer a close second with 60 total blocks.
Scouting the Pirates
With Julie Torbett at the helm for her first season, the Pirates are 10-14 (1-6 C-USA), with a 4-3 record at home. East Carolina plays host to FIU after losing three-straight, most recently to Tulsa, 3-1 (11-25, 14-24, 16-28, 7-24), on Sunday. The Pirates offense is spearheaded by Nicole Willis (318 kills, 3.79 kps), Torre Blake (157 kills, 1.91 kps) and Whitney Campbell (150 kills, 2.11 kps), while Zarah Cecich leads her team in assists (659, 8.34 aps). Shelby Beasley has a team-best 323 digs (3.85 dps), while Kierra Lee-Dunson bests the team in blocks (71 blocks, 0.88 bps). Willis has 18 service aces.
Series History
This is the first time these two teams will face-off on the volleyball court.
Scouting the Lady Techsters
Under the direction of Adriano de Souza, LA Tech owns a 7-15 record (1-6 C-USA). The Lady Techsters have lost their last four-straight and host Tulsa on Friday before hosting FIU on Sunday. Leading the way for the Lady Techsters is Xzache Mathis (270 kills, 3.51 kps) and Rebecca Redgen (253 kills, 2.98 kps), along with Alejandra Aviles, who has a team-best 271 digs (3.61 dps). Maria Coelho leads LA Tech with 329 service aces and leads the team in assists (750, 8.72 aps), while Caitlin Germany leads the team in blocks (63 blocks, 0.81 bps).
Series History
LA Tech leads the series, 2-5-0, all-time.
Next Up
The Panther's second-to-last regular season, home match will be on Nov. 3 against Rice. FIU will then close out the away slate with three matches before wrapping up the regular season with North Texas on Nov. 17, which will also be senior day for the volleyball squad.
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/
