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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Oct. 10, 2014) – Lea Montavon had a match-high and career-high tying 13 kills to lead the FIU volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-17) Conference USA win over the Charlotte 49ers on Friday night from Halton Arena. With the win, the Panthers improve to 5-13 overall and 2-3 in C-USA play.
Montavon posted her fourth double-digit kill performance of the season, ending the night with a match-high 13 kills on 35 attempts against two errors to garner a new career-best .314 hitting percentage. Montavon also posted her third double-double of the season by adding 10 digs.
Gloria Levorin had another big night as the junior had 11 kills with a .429 hitting percentage. Levorin also added seven total blocks, posting one solo and six assisted to tie a career-high.
Lucia Castro added nine kills, had nine digs and two blocks.
Kiona McSwain had a match-high 35 assists and
Martyna Gluchowicz led the Panthers with a season-high tying 16 digs, one shy of her career-best.
For Charlotte, Claire Kreuz and Abreia Epps garnered 10 kills apiece, while Savannah Gaster chipped in with seven. Shelby Green had a team-best 11 digs.
FIU finished the match with a season-best .315 hitting percentage as the 49ers recorded only 4.0 team blocks against the Panther attack. Charlotte had a .148 percentage with the Panthers recording 12.0 blocks.
In the opening set, FIU got off to fast start quickly jumping to 9-4 advantage. The Panthers continued their offensive attack extending the lead to eight. With the score at 22-14, Charlotte used a 7-2 run to pull within two, but an attack error and a Castro kill sealed the deal for the niners and the Panthers took set one, 25-21.
The second set started much like the first, as FIU led from start to finish. An early 6-2 Panther lead forced Charlotte to call timeout, but the Panthers kept rolling as they scored the next two points. With the score set at 8-2, the Panthers kept the momentum forcing Charlotte to burn another timeout midway through the fame. Charlotte pulled within two points four times near the end, but that was the closest the 49ers would come, and FIU took the second set 25-20.
The third frame was extremely tight, featuring four ties, but FIU never gave up its lead. With the score tied 8-8, FIU went on a 3-0 run thanks to back-to-back Levorin/Montavon blocks to force the 49ers to use a timeout. Following the break, the Panthers continued on the offensive, recording five more kills on seven attempts to take the third set and the match 3-0.
The Panthers return to the court Sunday Oct. 12, when they complete their two-match C-USA road trip against Louisiana Tech. The match between FIU and Louisiana Tech will begin at 2 p.m. ET from the Thomas Assembly Center (TAC) in Ruston, La.
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).
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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 FIU Arena and Ocean BankField at FIU Stadium. About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 4-00 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
