MIAMI (October 6, 2015) – The FIU Volleyball team (10-7, 4-2 in C-USA) struggled offensively Tuesday night against the Eagles in a 3-1 loss (23-25, 25-11, 21-25, 22-25). The Panther's one bright spot was sophomore
Tia Clay who had 10 kills on the night and hit a .316 percentage. FIU out-blocked the Eagles 16-7, but it was not enough to come away with the victory.
Both teams were sluggish in the first set as neither team could jump out to any sort of lead. The Eagles took the set, 25-23. FIU hit a -.027 hitting percentage.
The Panthers had a much better second set, tying the game 1-1 with a 25-11 victory. FIU's offense was clicking on all cylinders hitting a .647 percentage and adding five team blocks. Senior
Gloria Levorin, sophomore
Jennifer Ene and sophomore
Tia Clay each had three kills in the second set.
In the third set, the woes of the Panthers returned as the Eagles took the set 25-21. FGCU hit a .389 hitting percentage and held the Panthers to only a .195 clip. The Panthers continued to out-block the Eagles (3-1), but it was not enough to overcome, as FGCU took a 2-1 lead.
A poor hitting percentage in the fourth set put the Panthers in a tough spot as FIU dropped the final set 25-22. For the second set of the night, the Panthers had a negative hitting percentage (-.030). FGCU only had 11 kills in the set and hit .118.
The Panthers will host the Charlotte 49ers this Friday on Lime Court at FIU Arena at 7 pm. FIU has not lost a home match to a conference opponent this season (3-0).
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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/.
