MIAMI (Nov. 2, 2013) – The volleyball squad (10-13, 4-6 C-USA) is back home this weekend for its second-to-last home match of regular season. The Panthers face off against Rice this Sunday at 1 p.m. from Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena.
Keeping up with the Panthers
A FREE stream of Sunday's match can be found
here or through the multimedia tab on FIUSports.com.
Last Time Out
The Panthers are coming off a Sunday afternoon sweep of LA Tech, 3-0. Sophomore
Lucia Castro recorded her second double-double in as many games, leading the team in both digs (11) and kills (11). Sophomore
Adriana McLamb and junior
Martyna Gluchowicz each notched eight digs apiece, while senior
CeCe Spencer had a big kill to put FIU ahead, 16-15, in the third set, to help seal the Panthers' victory.
For the season, senior
Kimberly Smith (232 kills, 2.90 kps) and redshirt junior
Ksnenia Sukhareva (215 kills, 2.87 kps) lead the Panther offense, while senior
Jessica Mendoza owns a team-leading mark of 235 digs (2.83 dps). Sukhareva also leads in service aces (15), while Mendoza is one back in that category with 14 service aces. Smith anchors the FIU defense with 88 total blocks (1.10 bps), with Spencer a close second with 52 total blocks.
Scouting the Owls
With Genny Volpe at the helm for her 10th season, Rice is riding a three-game losing streak entering Friday's match against Florida Atlantic. At 6-17 overall, Rice is positioned one spot ahead of FIU in the Conference USA standings. The Owls offense is spearheaded by Jillian Humphrey (262 kills, 3.01 kps) and Chelsey Harris (175 kills, 2.43 kps), while Sara Blasier leads her team with 657 assists (9.95 aps). Daniela Arenas has a team-high 373 digs (4.29 dps) and Noelle Whitlock has 236 digs (2.71 dps), which is good for second on the team. Humphrey also leads Rice in blocks (92, 1.06 bps) with Lizzy Bache adding numbers of 60 blocks (0.69 bps) to the effort. The Owls are 1-6 on the road this year, most recently losing to North Texas on Sunday, 3-1.
Series History
This is will be the first NCAA Division 1 meeting between FIU and Rice.
Next Up
FIU is on the road for its next three matches, traveling to Middle Tennessee (Nov. 8), Southern Miss (Nov. 10) and Florida Atlantic (Nov. 12) before closing out the regular season at home on Nov. 17 against North Texas. The match will also serve as senior day for the Panthers' graduating members.
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/
