BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Sept. 5, 2015) – The FIU volleyball team (4-2, 1-0 C-USA) split a pair of contests at the Blazer Classic on Saturday afternoon, falling to Austin Peay, 3-0, and defeating Savannah State, 3-0, from Bartow Arena.
With the split, the Panthers finished the Classic with a 2-1 record, including their first conference win of the season with a 3-2 victory over UAB on Friday night.
In the first match of the day, FIU dropped a 3-0 decision to the Governors (2-4), 25-11, 25-15, 25-11. The Panthers struggled on the attack, hitting .058 for the match
Freshman
Katie Friesen notched her fourth double-double of the year with 13 assists and 10 digs versus Austin Peay. Freshman libero
Maria McLamb registered 10 digs to increase her string of consecutive games with 10-or-more digs to five.
The Panthers rebounded with a 3-0 win over the Savannah State Tigers (0-8), 25-8, 25-12, 25-13. FIU hit .282 with 34 kills in the match. Defensively, the Panthers held the Tigers to a -.158 hitting percentage, forcing 32 Savannah State hitting errors, while recording six total blocks.
Senior
Lucia Castro tallied the match's only double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs. The native of Ponce, Puerto Rico, hit .417, committing just two errors in 24 total attempts. Friesen added 19 assists to her season total, while McLamb registered a game-high 13 digs.
With the 4-2 record, FIU is off to its best start since the 2009 season when the team went 5-1 through the first six matches.
FIU will travel to DeLand, Fla., to take part in the Stetson Westin Classic Sept. 11-12. The Panthers will face the Hatters on Friday. First serve is set for 3 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/.
