FIU Notes | C-USA Notebook 

MIAMI (Oct. 9, 2014) - FIU (4-13/1-3 C-USA) will play a pair of Conference USA road matches this week. The Panthers open the weekend on Friday night when they travel to Charlotte N.C., for a 7 p.m. ET match against the Charlotte 49ers (12-10/1-3 C-USA) from Halton Arena. FIU closes the weekend on Sunday against the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters. First serve between the Panthers and Techsters is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET from the Thomas Assembly Center (TAC).
 
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FIU recently snapped a nine-match losing streak with a 3-1 win last Sunday, Oct. 5 against UAB. For the season, FIU is hitting .138 as a team, while averaging 11.0 kills-per-set, 10.1 assists-per-set, 1.08 aces-per-set, 14.8 digs-per-set and 2.13 blocks-per-set. Last weekend against WKU and UAB, the Panthers averaged 10.4 kills-per-set with a .171 hitting percentage.
 
Freshman Jennifer Ene had a big weekend for the Panthers, averaging 2.57 kills-per-set with a .281 hitting percentage. After garnering five kills against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, Ene set a new career-high when she had 13 kills (3.25 kps) in four sets against UAB. For the season, Ene is averaging 1.69 kills-per-set and 0.80 blocks-per-set.
 
Freshman Kiona McSwain also had a career weekend after she paced the Panthers with 55 assists to average 7.86 assists-per-set. The Sarasota, Fla., native contributed 12 digs, two kills and a service ace on the weekend. In addition, she had a career-best 38 assists (9.5 aps) in the win against UAB.
 
 
The Charlotte 49ers enter the weekend ranked just above FIU in the Conference USA standings. Charlotte recently suffered a straight-set loss to Western Kentucky Tuesday night to fall to 12-10 overall and 1-3 in C-USA play. The 49ers enter the match ranked ninth in C-USA with a .200 hitting clip, but are 11^th in the conference with 11.00 kills-per-set. Charlotte is fifth in C-USA with 1.13 service aces-per-set and average 2.20 blocks-per-set, which is sixth in the conference.
 
Charlotte senior Savannah Gaster leads the team with a hitting percentage of .334 to rank ninth in C-USA. Gaster also leads the team with 0.88 blocks-per-set and averages 2.16 kills-per-set. Iren Asci adds 3.00-kills-per-set, good for ninth in the league and is second on the team with 3.06 digs-per-set. Sophomore libero Shelby Green leads the 49ers and is second in the league with 4.53 digs-per-set. Green also leads the conference with 37 service aces on the year.
 
Friday's match between the Panthers and 49ers will mark the seventh meeting between the two schools. After the Panthers posted a 3-2 win over the 49ers last year, the series is now tied 3-3.
 
In the last meeting, FIU had three players reach double figures in kills as then-sophomore Lucia Castro led the way with 17. Kimberly Smith added 16 kills and Ksenia Sukhareva had 14. Then-sophomore Sarah McDonald had 13 kills for the 49ers, while then-freshman Claire Kreuz had 12 and Savannah Gaster added 10.
 
The Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters enter the weekend with a record of 7-11, 0-5 C-USA following a five-set loss over Middle Tennessee Sunday afternoon.  The Techsters will face UTSA Friday night before the Panthers on Sunday afternoon. This season, Louisiana Tech is 10^th in C-USA as it averages 11.60 kills-per-set while ranking right in front of FIU with a .166 hitting percentage. The Lady Techsters also hold opponents to a .204 hitting clip, a mark that is good for eighth in the league.  
 
Senior Rebecca Redgen leads the team and ranks sixth in C-USA with 3.31 kills-per-set while hitting .167 for the season. Angela Papach and Adria Morales 1.82 and 1.79 kills-per-set respectively, and Helena Gunnarsdóttir adds 1.63 kills-per-set. The setting duo of Morales and Brooke Short combine for 447 assists (4.9 aps) on the year, as Morales leads the team with 5.60 assists-per-set. Dalane Guidry leads the team with 50 blocks (0.96 bps) and Alejandra Aviles is sixth in C-USA with 3.61 digs-per-set.
 
When FIU and Louisiana Tech take the court on Sunday, it will mark the ninth meeting all-time between the two schools. Tech leads the overall series 5-3, but FIU won the last outing in 2013 where the Panthers posted a straight-sets win over the Lady Techsters. Castro had 11 kills to lead FIU and then-senior Kimberly Smith chipped in with seven.
 
 
Next week the Panthers return home for homecoming week when they host Middle Tennessee on Friday, Oct. 17 and Southern Miss on Sunday, Oct. 19. First serve between FIU and MTSU is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET and the match against SMU is set for 1 p.m. ET. Both matches will take place at Lime Court at FIU Arena.
 
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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/.