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MIAMI (Nov. 9, 2014) – The FIU volleyball team suffered a heartbreaking 3-1 (26-24, 25-27, 12-25, 25-27) loss to the UTSA Roadrunners on Sunday afternoon from the Convocation Center. With the loss, the Panthers fall to 6-22 overall and 3-12 in C-USA play. The Roadrunners improve to 18-7 as they remain unbeaten in conference action at 14-0 and atop the Conference USA standings.
UTSA dominated the defensive side of the ball on the back row, posting 74 digs to hold the Panthers to a .264 hitting percentage. UTSA, who came into the match ranked third in the league with a .235 hitting percentage, hit .348 despite FIU posting eight blocks in the four sets.
Lucia Castro led the Panthers with 17 kills and notched a .311 hitting percentage with only three errors against 34 attempts. This is the fifth-consecutive match that Castro has posted-double digit kill figures and the 15th time she has done so this season.
Gloria Levorin and
Jennifer Ene added 12 kills each, while hitting .333 apiece. Castro also added a team-best 18 digs for her third-consecutive double-double.
Kiona McSwain and Levorn notched a match-high five blocks each. McSwain's five blocks (all assisted) were a career-high. The freshman also dished out 44-of-FIU's 48 assists on the day.
For the Roadrunners' balanced attack, Desmsey Thornton had a match-high 25 kills with a .262 hitting percentage, and Dajana Boskovic had 23 kills with a .439 hitting efficiency. Marijeta Runjic hit .360 with 11 kills on 25 attempts and had a match-high four service aces. UTSA setter Jessica Waldrip had a match-high 59 assists, while libero Annie Kunes had a match-high 31 digs.
The match opened with FIU taking a quick 8-2 lead, but the Roadrunners responded with a 7-1 run to tie the frame at 9-9 that forced the Panthers to burn a timeout. Coming out of the break, UTSA took its first lead and extended it to three midway through the frame. After tying the set five times, including late at 24-24, FIU finally broke through and retook the lead at 25-24. After a UTSA timeout
, Martyna Gluchowicz stunned the Roadrunners with a kill as the Panthers took the first set 26-24 and a 1-0 match lead.
The second set began with the two teams exchanging points over the opening moments of play. The frame remained extremely close early on with three ties, but UTSA remained ahead by no more than two points. With the score set at 7-5, the Roadrunners extended their lead to four, and FIU would use a timeout. After the break, the Panthers slowly pulled within one after back-to-back Ene kills and used a UTSA attack error to tie the match at 20 all. After the Roadrunners called a timeout, they took the Panthers to set point at 24-22; however, an Ene kill and a UTSA bad set would tie the frame at 24-24. After Castro's 10
th kill that tied it once more at 25-25, the Roadrunners used a Runjic kill and service ace to take the second set, 27-25.
With the match tied at 1-1, the third set opened much like the second with the two teams exchanging points over the opening moments of play. With the score tied at two all, UTSA used a 7-2 run to take a 9-3 lead, which forced FIU to burn a timeout. The Roadrunners led by as many as 13 as they took third set, 25-12. The Panthers, who combined for a .312 hitting percentage in the first two sets, only hit .121 in the third frame compared to a .385 clip from UTSA.
With their backs against the wall following the third set, the Panthers opened the fourth on a 7-2 offensive tear thanks to multiple kills from Levorin, Ene and Castro. UTSA, however, quickly responded with a 7-2 run to tie the frame up at 9-9. From there, the Roadrunners would tie it up two more times, but FIU quickly pulled ahead by four. With the score set at 16-12, UTSA went on a 5-1 run to tie it once more at 17-17, forcing FIU to call timeout. The set would swing back and forth as both teams exchanged points until the very end and forced UTSA into three match points, but ultimately the Roadrunners took the fourth set, 27-25.
FIU returns to action for a non-conference midweek match at Florida Gulf Coast. The Panthers will take on the Eagles Wednesday, Nov. 12, with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
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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/.
