COMPLETE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (PDF)
MIAMI (April 3, 2014) - The No. 7 Panther sand volleyball squad (9-2) will host the annual FIU Surf & Turf Tournament this weekend, April 4-6, as they welcome Florida Atlantic, LSU, Florida Gulf Coast and North Florida.
Fans are encouraged to bring their own beach chairs and towels. The first 75 fans to arrive on Saturday will receive a free FIU bucket hat and the first 50 fans to arrive on Sunday will also receive a free FIU bucket hat.
Friday and Saturday's competition will take place on South Beach (12th Street & Ocean Drive) beginning at 8:30 a.m. Action on Sunday will take place at the FIU Sand Courts, located on the Modesto A. Maidique Campus next to the FIU Tennis Courts and across the street from FIU Arena beginning at 8 a.m.
The first two days of the tournament will consist of team duals, and the event will conclude on Sunday with pairs, single-elimination bracket play. For a complete schedule, click HERE.
FIU is coming off a 3-0 performance last week after sweeping Florida Atlantic 5-0 and defeating both Florida Gulf Coast and Webber International, 4-1. The Panthers are now 9-2 in dual matches on the season.
FIU's No. 4 duo of Jessica Mendoza and Jessica Gehrke is a perfect 8-0 (4-0 Dual, 0-0 Pairs) going into the weekend, while the Panthers' No. 3 tandem of Maryta Gluchowicz and Kristine Monforte owns an overall mark of 9-2 (9-2 Dual, 0-0 Pairs). Gluchowicz and Monforte have also competed at all positions minus the No. 4 spot which is has been consistently held down by Mendoza and Gehrke.
North Florida is having a solid season coming into this weekend with an 11-3 record. The Opsreys are currently on a seven-game winning streak after defeating Mercer twice, Florida Gulf Coast twice, Stetson twice and Webber International.
Local rival Florida Atlantic owns a record of 2-9 coming into tournament action, while Florida Gulf Coast is 1-12 on the year. LSU heads to South Beach 4-5 overall in its first year of sand volleyball.
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 Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida¹s anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visithttp://www.fiu.edu/
