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ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 29, 2014) – The FIU Volleyball team (1-0) opened its 2014 campaign with a 3-1 (25-20, 25-15, 20-25, 29-27) win over the Western Carolina Catamounts on Friday, as part of the Radisson UCF Invitational.
 
Junior Lucia Castro, senior Martyna Gluchowicz and freshman Lea Montavon led the balanced offensive charge, as Castro finished the day with a career-high 22 kills, while Gluchowicz and Montavon added 16 and 13, respectively. Castro hit .353 (22-4/51) and Gluchowicz posted a .333 (16-5/33) hitting percentage. In addition, junior Gloria Levorin added 10 kills while hitting a match-best .471 (10-2/17) to go along with four blocks.
 
Castro, Gluchowicz and Montavon all notched double-doubles. Montavon finished with 17 digs to go along with her 13 kills, while Castro and Gluchowicz posted 15 and 11, respectively. Junior libero Adriana McLamb and sophomore setter Anabela Sataric also had solid opening matches. Sataric recorded a new career-best 53 assists and McLamb posted 23 digs, one shy of her career-high.
 
FIU took the opening set, 25-20, behind a .316 hitting percentage that saw Montavon and Sataric post three kills apiece. Sataric also dished out 10 assists. After having two kills in the opening set. Gluchowicz exploded for eight of FIU's 21 kills in the second set, helping the Panthers open a 2-0 lead in the match, en route to a 25-15 second-set win.
 
Although the Panthers recorded 16 kills compared to the Catamounts' 14 kills in the third set, WCU was able to overcome a late push by FIU to take the third set, 25-20. With the FIU leading, 23-18, in the fourth set, Western Carolina was able to score five-straight points to tie the set up at 23-23. The remainder of the set was a back-and-forth affair, including 10 ties and four lead changes, but the Panthers eventually closed it out with a Castro kill to take the fourth and final set, 29-27.
 
FIU has now won its season opening match for the first time since 2011 and the first time under head coach Rita Buck-Crockett.
 
FIU returns to action in the Radisson UCF Invitational later tonight when it takes on Northeastern. The match is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET from the Venue; however, the tournament is currently running about two hours behind. The Panthers finish the tournament against Eastern Kentucky and UCF on Saturday.  
 
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. 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 54,000 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/