DE LAND, Fla. (Sept. 12, 2015) – The FIU volleyball team (6-2) defeated the Mercer Bears (1-7), 3-0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-13) on Saturday afternoon in the final match of the Stetson Invitational. With the win, the Panthers claimed the tournament title after defeating both Stetson (3-2 on Friday) and Mercer in the three-team event.
Senior
Gloria Levorin was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, recording a 19 kills with a .410 hitting percentage and 11 total blocks during the Panthers' two victories.
Senior
Lucia Castro and sophomore
Jennifer Ene led all Panthers with 10 blocks apiece on Saturday. Castro also added 11 digs for her third-straight double-double and fourth of the season. Ene finished the match hitting .421 on 19 total attacks. Castro earned all-tournament honors totaling 27 kills and 29 digs on the weekend.
Freshman
Katie Friesen notched her fifth double-double of the season, recording 32 assists and 12 digs. Senior
Adriana McLamb led all Panthers with a season-high 17 digs.
The Panthers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first set, holding the Bears to a 0.56 hitting percentage. Set two was tightly-contested as there were five ties and three lead changes. FIU would go on to take the set, 26-24, and a 2-0 advantage. FIU took care of business in the third set, hitting .242 to Mercer's -.024, to take the match, 3-0.
FIU finished the afternoon with an attack percentage of .202, recording 40 kills. Defensively, the Panthers held the Bears to a .034 attack percentage, forcing Mercer to commit 23 errors, while FIU registered 9.0 total blocks. The Panthers notched seven service aces, led by Castro and junior
Katie Hogan, who each registered three aces in the contest.
The Panthers will host the FIU Invite, Sept. 17-18. The two-day tournament will feature FIU, Bethune-Cookman, UCF and Seattle. The Panthers will open play versus the Wildcats on Thursday with first serve set for 1 p.m.
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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/.
