MIAMI (Nov. 17, 2013) — The FIU volleyball team (12-16, 6-8 C-USA) closed out the regular season by defeating the North Texas Mean Green in straight sets (3-0, 25-23, 25-20, 25-22) from Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena Sunday afternoon.
Two Panthers registered double-figures in kills, as junior
Martyna Gluchowicz spearheaded the offense with 14 kills. For the fourth-game in a row, sophomore
Lucia Castro registered double-digit kills, tallying 13 for the afternoon. Junior
Carli Silvia had a team-high and career-high nine blocks, while senior
Kimberly Smith notched seven.
Set one went the way of the Panthers, defeating North Texas, 25-23. In a tightly-contested first set that saw eight tied scores and four lead changes, FIU hit .282 and was led by Gluchowicz, who posted a team-high six kills for the set. Sophomore
Adriana McLamb recorded a team-best five digs followed by redshirt junior
Jessica Egan, who also tallied 11 assists.
In set two, FIU took a 2-0 lead, downing the Mean Green, 25-20. The Panthers were led by Castro, who registered a set-high six kills. Egan added to her assists total with 10 helpers. McLamb notched four more digs in the second set to up her digs total to nine.
FIU closed out the regular season slate with a 25-22 set three victory. Two times the Panthers put up four-straight points and pulled ahead, 10-6. Following a North Texas time out, the Mean Green strung together three-straight points to bring North Texas within a point, 10-9. The two squads traded points the remainder of the match. Gluchowicz had four kills and a service ace in the set. A Castro kill off a McLamb assist sent the Panthers home victorious.
Prior to the match the Panthers honored seniors
CeCe Spencer,
Jessica Mendoza, Smith and Egan, who played in their final home match of the FIU careers.
The Panthers will now prepare for the 2013 Conference USA Tournament in Murfreesboro, Tenn. This year's tournament begins on Thursday, Nov. 21. Check on the league's official site for seeding announcements and match times by clicking
here.
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/.
