FIU MATCH NOTES
C-USA NOTES

MIAMI (Sept. 11, 2014) – After winning two of its three matches of the USF Invitational, the FIU volleyball team (3-4/0-0 C-USA) will travel to Brookings, S.D., to compete in the SDSU Challenge this weekend. The SDSU will be the third of the Panthers' four preseason tournaments this year. FIU opens the tournament Friday, Sept. 12, at 1 p.m. ET against North Dakota before the nightcap at 7:45 p.m. ET versus tournament host South Dakota State. FIU will then close out the tournament on Saturday, Sept. 13, at 11 a.m. against the Iowa Hawkeyes.

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TEAM NOTES
• FIU head coach Rita Buck-Crockett is in her second season with the Panthers and eighth overall as a head coach. With a 3-4 record this season, Buck-Crockett has a 16-21 record at FIU, bringing her career record to 65-142.
• Junior outside hitter Lucia Castro garnered USF Invitational All-Tournament honors after averaging 3.18 kills-per-set and 3.45 digs-per-set in the three matches … after recording a career-high 22 digs against South Carolina State, Castro finished the three matches with a team-best 38 digs (3.45 dps) and 35 kills on the weekend to notch a .238 (35K-11E/101TA) hitting percentage … she also added eight blocks (all assisted) and three service aces … Castro leads the Panthers and ranks seventh in C-USA with 84 kills (3.23 kps) through seven matches … she also leads the team with 78 digs (3.00 dps).
• Junior middle blocker Gloria Levorin also earned USF All-Tournament honors after averaging 1.27 blocks-per-set … Levorin had seven block assists in the win against USF and added six kills … she currently ranks eighth in the conference in hitting percentage with a .311 (49K-16E/106TA) average.
• Sophomore setter Anabela Sataric paced the Panthers with 82 assists in the USF Invitational, to average 7.45 assists-per-set … Sataric closed the tournament with a season-best 12 digs and three aces in FIU's win over the Bulls … she added 27 assists to her 12 digs to pick up her first double-double on the year at USF .. Satric leads the Panthers and ranks eighth in the conference with 222 assists (8.54 asp).
• Jennifer Ene continues to make her presence known up front as she recorded seven kills and seven blocks (one solo, six assisted) at USF … the freshman also hit a career-best .600 (10K-1E/15TA) against South Carolina State … Ene is second on the team with 22 blocks (0.92 bps) and tied for third with 48 kills (2.00 kps)
• Freshman Alex Lilliquist, who started as the libero in all three matches this past weekend, had a career-high 17 digs at USF and is currently averaging 2.59 digs-per-set, good for fourth on the squad.
 
SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA
After a 3-1 defeat to North Dakota State on Tuesday, Sept. 9, North Dakota comes into this weekend with 6-3 record. UND opened the season 1-2 before a five-match winning streak against Drake (3-0), two straight-set wins over Tulane and two wins over South Dakota (3-2 and 3-1). North Dakota is set to take on tournament host South Dakota State tonight at 8 p.m. ET before facing FIU tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET.

Senior Lexi Robinson leads the team and ranks seventh in the Big Sky Conference, averaging 3.21 kills-per-set with 109 kills overall. Robinson also leads UND with nine aces and is third on the team in digs with 94 (2.76 dps). Setter Nikki Husfeldt leads North Dakota and ranks fourth in the Big Sky Conference with 348 assists (10.24 aps). Junior libero McKenzie Hart was named the UND Classic's Most Valuable Player this past weekend. Hart leads the team and ranks third in the conference with 161 digs (4.74 dps).

Head Coach Mark Pryors is in his first season at the helm of the North Dakota volleyball program after a four-year stint as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Baylor. This weekend will mark first meeting between the two schools.

SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
The South Dakota State Jackrabbits come into the weekend with a 3-4 record, after dropping their last match to Valparaiso (3-0) in the Jackrabbit Invitational. The Jackrabbits' three wins came at the UMES Tournament against Weber State (3-0), UMES (3-0) and Fairleigh Dickinson (3-0).

Senior Margit Hansing led the Jackrabbits' attack, averaging 2.45 kills and 2.91 digs-per-set, and junior and All-Tournament selection Alanna Pengilly averaged a team-best 3.27 digs-per-set. As a team, SDSU hit .156 and averaged 1.50 blocks-per-set.

Going into his fourth season at South Dakota State, head coach Phil McDaniel is in the early stages of remodeling a Jackrabbit program just seven years removed from its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance he helped build. FIU leads the all-time series over South Dakota State, 2-0. Last year, the Panthers posted a 3-0 victory over the Jackrabbits in the FIU Invitational.

SCOUTING IOWA
Iowa comes to the SDSU Challenge with a 4-2 record. After dropping their first match to Texas A&M (3-0), the Hawkeyes went on a four-matching winning streaking posting wins against C-USA foes UTSA (3-1) and UAB (3-0). Iowa's only other loss came against No. 17 Arizona State (3-0).

As a team, Iowa ranks ninth nationally in blocks-per-set (3.13), 31st in team total blocks (62.5), 41st in aces-per-set (1.70), 78th in kills-per-set (13.45), and 91st in assists per set (12.35) and team service aces (34). Senior Alessandra Dietz is 77th in blocks-per-set (1.75) and 79th in hitting percentage (.372). Senior Alex Lovell ranks 89th in points per set (4.25) and 93rd in kills per set (3.70), while sophomore setter Alyssa Klostermann is 92nd nationally in aces per set (0.45). Lovell collected all-tournament team honors for the second-straight weekend after the completion of the Residence Inn Challenge on Sunday. She earned all-tournament team honors along with right side hitter Jess Janota after the Texas A&M Tournament, Aug. 29-30. Dietz was also named to the Residence Inn all-tournament team.

Bond Shymansky is in his first season as head coach of the Hawkeye volleyball program. Shymansky owns a career record of 294-111 (.726) and is just six wins from logging his 300th career victory. This is his 13th season as a head coach. He spent the past five seasons (2009-13) at the helm of the Marquette volleyball program and seven seasons before that leading Georgia Tech (2002-09). FIU and Iowa are meeting for the first time on Saturday.

NEXT FOR THE PANTHERS
Following the SDSU Challenge, the Panthers will travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., next week to compete in the Crimson-White Tournament. The Crimson-White Tournament will be the fourth and final preseason tournament for the Panthers this season. FIU opens the tournament on Friday, Sept. 19, at 1 p.m. ET against the tournament host, the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Panthers will play a pair of matches on Saturday (Sept. 20) when they take on Clemson at 12 p.m. ET and San Diego State at 4:30 p.m. ET.

The Panthers open their home slate on Wednesday, September 17, when they face in-state rival Florida Atlantic. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
Tickets for the 2014 FIU volleyball season are on sale and fans can purchase their tickets by calling the FIU ticket office 305-FIU-GAME or by logging onto www.FIUSports.com

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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, visit http://www.fiu.edu/