Box Score (HTLM) | Box Score (PDF)

MIAMI (Oct. 17, 2014) – The FIU women's volleyball team suffered a tough five set Conference USA loss to the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Friday night from Lime Court at FIU Arena. With the 3-2 (25-18, 25-19, 21-25, 18-25, 9-15) loss, FIU falls to 6-14 overall and 3-4 in C-USA play. The Blue Raiders improve to 7-15 and 3-5 in conference play.
 
As a team, the Panthers had a .217 hitting percentage, while the Blue Raiders finished the night with a .216 hitting mark. The two teams combined for 17 blocks, with FIU notching nine and the Blue Raiders totaling eight.
 
FIU's Lucia Castro had a team-high 18 kills, as she committed just eight errors on 41 swings. Gloria Levorin added 12, while Jennifer Ene had 11. Castro also contributed 11 digs to notch her sixth double-double on the year, and Levorin had a team-best four blocks, three of which were solo stops. Kiona McSwain dished out a career-high 46 assists, while producing six digs, and Kristine Monforte and Maria Coukoulis added 13 and 10 digs, respectively.
 
For the Blue Raiders, Chelsea Ross led the way with a match-high 28 kills, while Monet Marshall and Miri Shade had 13 and 10, respectively. Ross also led all players in the match with 18 digs.
 
FIU came out on fire, taking the first set 25-18 and the second set 25-19. FIU hit .357 in the opening frame and .333 in the second set. The Panthers only committed seven errors against 38 attempts to garner a hitting clip of .344 in the first two sets. FIU was led by the offensive attack of Castro and Levorin who combined for 16 of FIU's 27 kills.
 
After the break, Middle Tennessee took sets three and four 25-21 and 25-18. After hitting only .059 in the first set and .156 in the second, the Blue Raiders exploded with a .295 mark in the third and a .267 clip in the fourth. Great defense also took FIU out of the sets as MTSU combined for 45 digs compared to its 20 in the first two frames.
 
With the score tied at 2-2, FIU took an early 8-4 lead in the fifth. After switching sides, Middle Tennessee quickly climbed back in it, going on a 5-1 run to even it up at 9-9. From there, the Blue Raiders scored six straight points to take the fifth set, 15-9 and the match 3-2.  
 
FIU completes the two-match home stretch this Sunday against Southern Miss. The match between the Panthers and the Golden Eagles is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET from Lime Court at FIU Arena.
 
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/.