Murfreesboro, Tenn. (October 25, 2015) – The FIU volleyball team (13-9, 7-4 in C-USA) dropped a heartbreaker to Middle Tennessee, 3-2 (20-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-17, 8-15). Coming off an emotional victory against FAU last Friday, the Panthers failed to repeat a similar comeback against the Blue Raiders. The Panthers were led by the experienced senior, Gloria Levorin and the spunky freshman, Dominique Dodd. 
 
FIU dropped the first set 25-20 to give the Blue Raiders a 1-0 lead in the match. In her second-career start, Dodd led the set with 11 assists. Senior Lucia Castro and junior Katie Hogan led in kills with five and four, respectively.
 
The Panthers began the second set slowly. Mental errors led to a 17-9 deficit for FIU. The Panthers would bounce back; going on an 8-1 run led by freshman Autumn Martin with three kills and a dig. In the end however, Middle Tennessee took the set 25-23 and increased their match lead to 2-0.
 
In a tightly contested third set, the Panthers pulled off the 25-20 victory to cut the Blue Raider lead to 2-1. Sophomore Jennifer Ene led the way with five kills and a .444 hitting percentage. Ene would end the night with 13 kills and three blocks.
 
FIU took the fourth set by a score of 25-17 to tie the match at 2-2. An early 12-5 lead was too much for Middle Tennessee. Levorin led with five kills and two blocks. Defensively, freshman Jade Faucette led with seven digs. Faucette would finish the match with 14 digs, three kills, and three blocks.
 
The Panthers could not complete the comeback in the fifth, and fell to the Blue Raiders, 15-8. Levorin, Castro, and Ene each had two kills in the final set.
 
Levorin led the Panthers offensively. She tied a career-high in kills with 16. Levorin would also add six blocks which advances her past '07-alumni Mina Spasojevic for fourth all-time in school history in block assists with 268. Defensively, senior Adriana McLamb also moved up among the all-time Panther greats. She posted 21 digs on the match moving her past '94-alumn Liz Moore and tying with '93-alumni Luciana Loureiro for eighth all-time in digs with 843.
 
Dodd broke a career-best in assists with 41. She also added five kills, eight digs, and two blocks for the Panthers. Castro finished the night on which she struggled with 12 kills and 13 digs, giving her the eleventh double-double of the season. 
 
FIU will be back in action next Sunday, Nov. 1, as they host the UTSA Roadrunners. First serve is set for 1 p.m. on Lime Court at FIU Arena.

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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/.Print Friendly Version