MIAMI (October 27, 2016) – The FIU volleyball team (8-15, 2-7 in C-USA) will take a short trip to Boca Raton for its rematch against their rivals, Florida Atlantic (12-10, 7-1 in C-USA) in their lone match of the week on Friday, October 28. First serve from FAU Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET).
The Panthers are coming off a 3-1 win over Louisiana Tech, snapping a five-game losing skid. FIU sits ninth in the Conference USA standings, only one game behind the eighth spot. The Panthers look to avenge the 3-0 loss to the Owls back in late September and move up in the conference standings this Friday.
The team will be led by senior
Katie Hogan, who is coming off her best performance in a Panther uniform. Hogan posted a career-high 24 kills on 43 attempts, recording 25.5 points against the Lady Techsters. Junior
Jennifer Ene also had a big weekend for the Panthers, recording 33 kills on a .391 hitting percentage at her first two starts as an Opposite Hitter.
Scouting Florida Atlantic: The Owls (12-10, 7-1 in C-USA) will enter Friday night's match with a seven-game winning streak, all coming against Conference USA opponents. FAU is currently second in the C-USA standings with a 7-1 record in the conference.
Florida Atlantic is FIU's biggest and longest lasting rival. Friday's match will be the 57
th meeting in the overall series. The Panthers lead the all-time series, 29-27 on the court, but due to NCAA sanctions, the record acknowledged is 27-27. Conference USA is the third era in which both programs have called each other conference rivals. From 1991-97, both programs were part of the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC; has since then changed their name to Atlantic Sun Conference). The Owls held a 9-3 edge over FIU in the TAAC era. The Panthers left the TAAC in 1998 to move to the Sun Belt Conference, where Florida Atlantic joined in 2006. From 2006-12, FIU had a perfect 14-0 record against the Owls. In 2013, both universities changed conferences to Conference USA. In the three-plus years of the Conference USA era, the Owls hold a 4-3 edge over FIU, winning the last meeting in late September.
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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/.
