HATTIESBURG, Miss. (October 16, 2015) – The FIU Volleyball team (11-8, 5-3 in C-USA) fell in a very hard-fought match 3-2 (25-21, 21-25, 25-11, 17-25, 8-15). The theme of the match seemed to revolve around early runs. The team who got out to a sizeable lead would end up winning the set.
FIU was led by sophomore
Jennifer Ene, who posted 14 kills, nine blocks, and a hitting percentage of .433. Those nine blocks tied a career-high, set by Ene only ten days ago against FGCU. Freshman
Dominique Dodd also set a career-high in assists with 19. Senior
Adriana McLamb led in digs with 23.
The Panthers jumped out to an early lead, taking the first set 1-0 with a 25-21 victory. FIU started slow, going with their new lineup, consisting of four middle hitters. Momentum started to roll mid-way through the set following two service aces by McLamb. FIU also tallied four blocks late, to clinch the set.
Southern Miss took the second set to tie the match 1-1 (25-21). The closely played set went back and forth. Neither team allowed the other to take any sort of lead. Tied 18-18, the Eagles finally went on a 7-3 run to end the set.
Ene took over in the third set, giving FIU an early 12-3 lead after five-consecutive kills and two solo blocks. Southern Miss fought back, but they simply could not overcome the early deficit. In the end, the Panthers took the third set (25-11) to give them a 2-1 lead. FIU out-blocked the Eagles 6-0.
The fourth set went the way of the Eagles after a 25-17 loss. The set followed the theme of the match. Tied 14-14, Southern Miss went on a run that would last the length of the set. Tied 2-2, the Panthers prepared for the final and deciding set.
The final set was neck and neck. Tied at 5-5, Southern Miss pulled away to take the fifth set 15-8 and take the match 3-2.
On the night, statistics by both teams ended very similarly. FIU posted 10 fewer hitting errors and six fewer serving errors than the Eagles. They also out-blocked Southern Miss 14-9. The final set, gave USM a lead in overall kills, 60-44.
The Panthers will come back home to Lime Court at FIU Arena to host LA Tech on
Wednesday, Oct. 21. First serve set for
5 p.m.#####
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 Bank Field 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/.
