MIAMI (October 21, 2016) - The FIU volleyball team (7-15, 1-7 in C-USA) was defeated by Marshall (17-6, 6-2 in C-USA) on Friday night, 3-1 (25-20, 24-26, 25-18, 26-24), falling to 1-7 in Conference USA play for the 2016 season.
 
The Panthers battled point-for-point in the first set, but fell five points shy of a win. Junior Jennifer Ene led the way with three kills. FIU outhit the Thundering Herd, .286-.258 and outblocked them 4-0. Five service aces for Marshall proved to be the difference in the initial set.
 
The second set was a game of runs, dominated by FIU's offense early. The Panthers opened the set on a 14-7 advantage, which Marshall quickly matched with a 13-4 run of their own. Ene led the team with seven kills on a .538 hitting percentage in the set, with four consecutive to give the Panthers the 26-24 edge. Senior Katie Hogan and redshirt freshman Lina Bernier each had five kills.
 
The Thundering Herd ran away with the third set 25-18. FIU lacked momentum throughout most of the set, unable to gain more than two consecutive points at a time, but was led by junior Taija Thomas with four kills.
                                                            
FIU battled for the fourth set, but it was just out of their reach, falling 26-24. For the match, Ene contributed a career-high 20 kills on 40 attempts and added a season-high two solo blocks. Junior Mariana De Paula Silva recorded 48 assists for the match, her best performance as a Panther.
 
FIU will be back on Lime Court on Sunday, October 23 at 1 p.m. to host Louisiana Tech.

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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/.