MIAMI (Aug. 29, 2015) – Hitting .364 for the match, the FIU volleyball team (1-1) defeated the Alabama A&M Bulldogs (0-2), 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-14), in the fourth game of the 2015 Panther Challenge on Saturday afternoon from Lime Court at FIU Arena. The win marked the first of the season for the Panthers. 
 
Freshman Lina Bernier led all Panthers with 14 kills – her second-straight double-digit outing, while hitting a team-best .522 for the match. The native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, also notched eight digs. Fellow freshman Katie Friesen tallied a match-best 30 assists in the contest to go along with six digs and four kills. Friesen's 30 assists were more than the entire Alabama A&M team had registered. Freshman Maria McLamb led the Panthers with a match-high 13 digs followed by senior Lucia Castro, who notched 12. Castro also recorded eight kills. Junior Katie Hogan notched a .421 hitting percentage with nine kills and sophomore Jennifer Ene registered five kills while hitting .444.
 
In a match that saw FIU trail only once (1-0 at the start of the second), the Panthers notched 46 kills to just 23 by the Bulldogs. Alabama A&M was held to a .131 hitting percentage, committing 12 attacking errors on 84 attempts. The Bulldogs also committed seven ball-handling errors and saw seven service aces by the Panthers. 
 
The Panthers will close out the 2015 Panther Challenge with a 6 p.m. match versus USF Saturday from Lime Court at FIU Arena. The match can be seen live on PantherVision. 
 
Admission to all FIU matches is free to the public.  

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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/.