Photo Credit: Richard Lewis

Live Stats
PantherVision (Free live video - available for FIU matches ONLY)
Conference USA Volleyball Notebook (PDF - Week 3)

MIAMI (Sept. 11, 2013) – For the second-consecutive weekend, the Panther volleyball team will host a tournament in the friendly confines of U.S. Century Bank Arena, as Jacksonville, Chattanooga and South Dakota State travel to Miami for the FIU Invitational. FIU will face JU (6 p.m.) on Thursday before taking on UTC (12 p.m.) and SDSU (7 p.m.) on Friday. 

Keeping Up with the Panthers
Live stats will be available for all FIU Invitational matches, and can be accessed via the FIU volleyball schedule page at FIUSports.com, or by clicking on the link above. A free live video stream for all FIU matches will be available via PantherVision (see above link), and fans can also follow the action on Twitter (@FIUVolleyball).

A Glance at Jacksonville
Under the direction of second-year Head Coach Michelle Collier, JU is a perfect 6-0 heading into Thursday's match with FIU. The Dolphins have registered 319 kills compared to 205 for the opposition, led by Sammi Strausbaugh (80 kills, 3.64 kps). Kendall Courtney leads the squad in assists (229, 10.4 aps), and Taylor Nyquist has registered a squad-high 10 service aces. Defensively, Kylie Jacob has posted 28 total blocks (1.27 bps) for the Dolphins, while Strausbaugh has notched a team-leading 65 digs (2.95 dps).

Series History: FIU leads the all-time series with Jacksonville, 12-7, as the Panthers have won the last six meetings with the Dolphins. The last time the two squads met was on Sept. 16, 2011, with FIU coming away with a 3-0 victory.

Scouting Chattanooga
With Head Coach Travis Filar at the helm for the third season, UTC owns an overall record of 0-8 heading into this weekend's tournament. Allie Davenport leads the Mocs in kills (74, 2.55 kps) and service aces (15), while Briana Reid has put up a team-high 126 assists (3.82 aps). Kendall Sexton leads the UTC blockers (23, 0.70 bps) and Catherine Chason has registered a team-leading 115 digs (3.48 dps).

Series History: UTC and FIU will square off for just the second time in each program's history on Friday. The Panthers were victorious in the first meeting, defeating the Mocs by a 3-1 score on Sept. 29, 1995.

A Look at South Dakota State
SDSU brings a record of 1-5 into weekend action, as third-year Head Coach Phil McDaniel and the Jackrabbits picked up their first win of the season last weekend with a 3-2 victory at Drake. Larson Wagner (59 kills, 2.81 kps) and Lexi Fowler (159 assists, 7.57 aps) lead the SDSU offense, while Mikala Hora has posted a team-leading five service aces. On the defensive side of the net, Lizzie Palmer and Kacey Herrmann have registered 77 digs apiece (3.67 dps). Tara Gibson and Larson lead the Jackrabbit blocking corps with 11 total blocks (0.52 bps) each.

Series History: FIU and SDSU have met just once before on the volleyball court, with the Panthers coming away with a narrow 3-2 win over the Jackrabbits on Sept. 3, 2010.

Last Time Out
The Panthers went 2-1 last weekend at the FIU Classic, defeating Houston Baptist and UNCW by 3-1 scores and falling to Alabama in straight sets on Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena. Redshirt junior Ksenia Sukhareva (43 kills, 3.91 kps) and senior Kimberly Smith (40 kills, 3.64 kps) led the FIU offense, while sophomore Ashlee Hodgskin (59 assists, 5.36 aps) and freshman Anabela Sataric (56 assists, 5.09 aps) were neck-and-neck for the team lead in helpers for the weekend. Junior Jessica Mendoza notched a squad-high three service aces, also leading FIU in the digs category (47, 4.27 dps), and Smith (13 blocks, 1.18 bps) and senior CeCe Spencer (12 blocks, 1.71 bps) led the Panther blocking corps.

All-Tournament Accolades
Redshirt junior Ksenia Sukhareva and senior Kimberly Smith earned FIU Classic All-Tournament honors for their efforts in the Panthers' 2-1 outing last weekend in Miami. The all-tournament honor marks the second of the season for Sukhareva, as she was previously named to the Gamecock Invitational All-Tournament squad on opening weekend.

Next Up
FIU will close out its tournament slate next weekend at the Active Ankle Challenge, hosted by Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind., on Sept. 20-21. The Panthers will face Northern Kentucky (4 p.m. ET) on day one before going up against Syracuse (10 a.m. ET) and the host Boilermakers (7:30 p.m. ET) on day two. Stay tuned to FIUSports.com for more information.

#PantherNation – #FIU Social Media
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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