Pictured: Senior CeCe Spencer (Photo Credit: Richard Lewis)

BOX SCORE (PDF)

SAN ANTONIO (Oct. 4, 2013) – The Panther volleyball team fell to Conference USA opponent UTSA by a 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-19) score on Friday night at the Convocation Center in San Antonio, Texas. With the loss, FIU falls to 7-8 (1-2 C-USA) while UTSA improves to 11-6 (3-0 C-USA).

Senior Kimberly Smith and redshirt junior Ksenia Sukhareva led the Panther offense with nine kills apiece, as Smith committed just one error in 20 total attempts for a .400 hitting percentage. Redshirt junior Jessica Egan had an outstanding night, registering a season-high and team-best 15 assists, a season-best five digs and a career-high four kills.

Defensively, Sukhareva and junior Martyna Gluchowicz tied for a squad high with seven digs apiece, while senior CeCe Spencer recorded an FIU-best five block assists. Gluchowicz chipped in with a career-high four stops on the night.

In set one, UTSA used several runs to pull ahead, 22-15. Sophomore Ashlee Hodgskin passed to Smith for a kill to put the score at 22-16, but the Roadrunners ended the stanza with three-straight points to come away with a 25-16 set victory and a 1-0 match lead.

UTSA took a significant lead in set two and FIU fought all the way back to within one at 17-16. The teams went back and forth with the Panthers once again cutting the deficit to one at 21-20 on a Gluchowicz kill before consecutive Roadrunner scores made it 23-20, forcing an FIU timeout.

Out of the break, UTSA committed a pair of errors to again bring up a one-point difference, but a Roadrunner kill brought up set-point in favor of UTSA at 24-22. FIU stayed alive, notching one more point, before a Panther service error ended the stanza, giving the Roadrunners a 25-23 set win and a 2-0 lead for the match.

Set three saw nine tie scores and five lead changes, with the final tie coming at 19-19. UTSA would then register six-consecutive points to win the set 25-19, taking the match in straight sets.

FIU returns to action on Sunday when the Panthers travel to El Paso for a league matchup at UTEP. First serve is slated for 2 p.m. ET.

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.

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/

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