FIU Notes | C-USA Notebook

MIAMI (Oct. 30, 2014) – FIU (6-18, 3-8 C-USA) returns to Lime Court at FIU Arena for its final two-match home stand of the season. FIU hosts the Rice Owls (18-6, 8-2 C-USA) on Friday night, with first serve scheduled for 6 p.m. ET. The weekend concludes against the Charlotte 49ers (13-15, 2-9 C-USA) on Sunday at 1p.m.  
 
GAMEDAY PROMOTIONS
• Following both matches, players will be made available to sign autographs.
• Friday is Halloween and members from the 13 additional FIU athletic teams will wear costumes. Each team will have a theme, and fans will have a chance to choose their favorite one. Fans are also encouraged to wear their own Halloween costumes Friday night.
 
FOLLOW THE PANTHERS ONLINE
Livestats: FIUSports.com
Live Webcast: FIUSports.com
Television: None
 
FIU is currently riding a five-match losing streak following a heartbreaking 3-1 loss to in-state rival FAU. The Panthers enter the weekend in ninth place in the C-USA standings, right outside the bubble to get in the conference tournament. For the season, the Panthers are tied for second in the league with 2.27 blocks-per-set following their 14-block outing at Florida Atlantic. FIU also ranks sixth in C-USA with 14.92 digs-per-set.
 
With her second kill against FAU, Lucia Castro registered her 800^th career-kill. She finished the match with 20 and currently has 818 for her career and continues to climb up FIU's career-kills ladder. She is now 99 kills away from passing Javanska Rosich (916) to get in the top 10. This season, Castro has 267 kills in 24 matches and is averaging 3.03 kills-per-set to rank 10^th in the conference.
 
During FIU's 14-block performance last night, freshman Brianna Gogins led the way with a match-high and career-best eight total blocks (seven assisted and one solo) on the night. Gogins out-blocked the entire FAU team as the Owls only posted seven team blocks.
 
SCOUTING THE RICE OWLS
Rice enters Friday's match ranked third in the conference standings, holding an overall record of 18-6 and a clip of 8-2 during C-USA action. The Owls have won seven of their last eight matches, most recently with a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-16, 25-21) against UAB. Rice leads the league with 14.26 kills-per-set, while also tying for first in digs as they average 16.11 digs-per-set.
 
This week's C-USA Offensive Player of the Week, Andi Bawcum, leads the Owl attack after having one of the best weekends of her career with 35 kills (5.8 kps) and a .360 hitting percentage. She is second on the Owl squad with 2.85 kills-per-set, right behind Lea Mikesky who ranks sixth in the league with 3.46 kills-per-set. Sara Blasier leads the conference dishing out almost 11 assists-per-set (10.98 aps), but she is currently sidelined due to injury. With Blasier out last weekend, freshman Katie Steel stepped up and thrived in her first two career starts to garner this week's C-USA Setter of the Week. The New Braunfels, Texas, native established both a career and team season-high 56 assists in the Owls' 3-1 win over Middle Tennessee. Steel then racked up 39 more assists in Rice's 3-0 sweep over UAB. For the weekend, the freshman totaled 95 assists in seven sets (13.5 aps) and led the Owls offense to a .442 set percentage.
 
Friday's match will only be the second time the two teams have met. Rice took the first meeting last year in Miami, 3-1.
 
SCOUTING THE CHARLOTTE 49ERS
Following a 2-3 (19-25, 25-19, 18-25, 25-21, 11-15) loss to C-USA frontrunner UTSA Sunday afternoon, Charlotte enters the weekend with a 13-15 record and a 2-9 mark in conference play. The 49ers, currently 12^th in the C-USA standings, have lost eight of their last nine matches including three straight. The last win for Charlotte was a 3-1 victory at North Texas on Oct. 17. Charlotte averages 12.83 kills-per-set with a .210 hitting percentage this season, which both rank seventh in the league. The 49ers also average 15.37 digs-per-set ranking just ahead of FIU at No. 4 in the conference, while averaging 1.86 blocks and 1.35 aces-per-set. Charlotte's 154 total aces lead Conference USA and are tied for sixth in the nation.
 
Charlotte is led by Irem Asci's 2.97 kills-per-set and Semen Sen's .322 hitting percentage which ranks 10^th in C-USA. Britney Leigh Held leads the team and ranks sixth in the league at 9.77 assists-per-set, while Shelby Green has 4.43 digs-per-set to rank second in the conference. The 49ers have two players who rank in the top 10 in service aces, led by Green who has 39 on the year to lead C-USA and rank 10^th in the country.
 
Sunday's match between the Panthers and the 49ers will mark the eighth meeting all-time between the two schools and the second of the year. FIU holds a slight 4-3 edge after winning the match earlier in the year on Oct. 10 at Charlotte, 3-0.
 
NEXT UP
Following this week's matches against Rice and Charlotte, the Panthers will hit the for C-USA matches at UTEP and conference leader UTSA next weekend. FIU travels to El Paso, Texas for a Friday night match against the Miners, with first serve scheduled for 9 p.m. ET from Memorial Gym. FIU wraps up the weekend with a Sunday afternoon match against the Roadrunners, with first serve scheduled for 1 p.m. ET from the Convocation Center.
 
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 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.