Final Stats (PDF)

MIAMI (Nov. 3, 2013) – The FIU volleyball team (10-14, 4-7 C-USA) fell to the Rice Owls (8-17, 5-6 C-USA), 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-13, 25-21) on Sunday afternoon on Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena.

FIU took a 1-0 lead following a 25-23 set one victory. The Panthers were led by senior middle blocker CeCe Spencer, who tallied five kills. Senior Jessica Mendoza recorded a team-high four digs, while redshirt junior Jessica Egan notched nine assists.

Rice tied the match, 1-1, after downing the Panthers, 25-22, in set two. Sophomore Lucia Castro recorded a team-best five kills in the set. Sophomore Adriana McLamb notched five digs while Egan totaled 13 assists in the set.

The Owls took set three, 25-13, giving Rice a 2-1 lead. Castro led the team with three kills. Redshirt junior Ksenia Sukhareva and junior Martyna Gluchowicz each recorded three digs apiece in the set, while Egan increased her assist total to 25.

Set four went the way of Rice, 25-21, as the Owls defeated the Panthers, 3-1. Senior Kimberly Smith and Castro registered four kills apiece in the set. Egan added 13 assists and McLamb notched a team-best seven digs in the set.

FIU finished the match hitting 0.97 to Rice's .213. The Panthers were out-blocked 12.0-5.0 as the Owls had one more kill than FIU for the match (52-51).

Castro finished the afternoon with a team-best 15 kills, followed by Smith's 10. Egan notched 38 assists versus the Owls, while three Panthers notched double-digits in digs (McLamb – 17 – career-high; Gluchowicz; Mendoza – 13).

The Panthers travel to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to take on the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders on Friday, Nov. 8. Game time is set for 6:00 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.
 
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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/