Pictured: Senior Kimberly Smith (Photo Credit: Richard Lewis)

BOX SCORE (PDF) / CUMULATIVE STATISTICS (PDF)

MIAMI (Sept. 5, 2013) – Behind double-digit kill performances from redshirt junior Ksenia Sukhareva, senior Kimberly Smith and sophomore Lucia Castro, the Panther volleyball squad opened the FIU Classic with a 3-1 (21-25, 25-21, 28-26, 25-15) win over Houston Baptist on Thursday night at U.S. Century Bank Arena. With the victory, FIU improves to 2-2 while HBU falls to 3-2.

Sukhareva led the Panthers with career-high marks of 20 kills and 10 digs to mark her first-career double-double, while Smith added a season-best 16 kills and Castro achieved a season-high mark with 11 kills.  Sophomore Ashlee Hodgskin posted a team-best 22 assists and chipped in with one service ace, as Castro also added one winner on the night. Freshman Anabela Sataric added 19 assists for the Panthers.

Leading the FIU blocking corps was senior CeCe Spencer with a career-high 10 blocks, including a career-best four solo stops, as the Panthers out-blocked the Huskies, 13-8, for the match. Senior Jessica Mendoza registered a career-high 17 digs to lead FIU, and sophomore Adriana McLamb chipped in with 11 digs to mark a career best.

HBU took set one by a narrow 25-21 score before FIU bounced back to knot the match at 1-1 with a 25-21 set-two victory. In set three, the Panthers struck first on a kill from Sukhareva and never let the Huskies pull ahead despite six tie scores, with the last coming at 26-26. Hodgskin then passed to Smith for a score to bring up set point and an HBU attack error gave FIU a 28-26 set win.

With a 2-1 lead for the match, set four saw the Panthers run out to a 14-8 advantage, forcing an HBU timeout. Out of the break, FIU took control, out-scoring the Huskies, 11-7, to take away a 25-15 set win and a 3-1 match victory.

The Panthers will continue action at the FIU Classic on Saturday afternoon versus Alabama. First serve is slated for 3 p.m.

Live stats will be available for all FIU Classic matches, and can be accessed via the FIU volleyball schedule page at FIUSports.com. A free live video stream for all FIU matches will be available via PantherVision, by clicking HERE, and fans can also follow the action live on Twitter (@FIUVolleyball).

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/

--- www.FIUSports.com ---