Ruston, La. (November 12, 2015) – The FIU volleyball team (14-12, 8-7 C-USA) defeated the Lady Techsters of LA Tech 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-15). With the victory, the Panthers have officially clinched a spot in the 2015 Conference USA Championship Tournament.
FIU took the first set 25-14 to take the 1-0 lead. With control of their own destiny to make it to the C-USA Championship Tournament, the Panthers came out guns blazing, capturing an early 8-2 lead and never looked back. FIU dominated offensively, posting a .429 hitting percentage and keeping LA Tech to only a .129 clip. Six different Panthers registered a kill in the set, led by junior
Katie Hogan with three. Hogan would finish the night with five kills and three blocks.
The second set went the way of the Panthers with a 25-17 victory to improve the lead to 2-0. The potent offense continued by spreading the ball around. Sophomore
Jennifer Ene led the affair with four kills and a block. Ene posted a career-high 19 kills in four sets against LA Tech on their last meeting in mid-October. This time out, Ene finished the night with 12 kills, this time in only three sets. She also added three blocks
FIU sealed the deal with a 25-15 victory, giving them the 3-0 sweep. Senior
Lucia Castro finished off the Lady Techsters in the final set with four kills and five digs. The Panthers hit a .364 percentage as a team. With the victory, FIU has clinched a spot in next week's Conference Championship Tournament.
FIU as a team hit a .308 hitting percentage and only had eight hitting errors, the fewest in any match this season. Senior
Gloria Levorin finished the night with nine kills, eclipsing her past the 750 milestone on her career. Freshman
Katie Friesen led the night in assists with 18. Defensively, Castro racked up a game-high 13 digs.
The Panthers will take on the 49ers of Charlotte on Saturday for the regular-season finale. FIU is currently the seventh seed for the conference tournament, but can move up to sixth with a victory and an FAU loss to LA Tech. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
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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/.
