MIAMI (November 2, 2016) – The FIU volleyball team (8-16, 2-8 in C-USA) will play their first of the final two road games of the season at UTEP (5-19, 3-8 in C-USA) on Friday, Nov. 4 at 8:30 p.m. (ET). They will then travel to San Antonio on Sunday, Nov. 6 to play an early-afternoon match against UTSA (16-6, 7-3 in C-USA) at 2 p.m.
 
The Panthers are coming off a 3-0 setback against the Florida Atlantic last weekend. With the season nearing an end, the Panthers have high hopes of making the Conference USA Championships as the eighth and final seed. FIU enters a must-win match against UTEP.
 
Senior Katie Hogan leads the Panthers in several categories: points (296), kills (254), attacks (692) and double-doubles (eight). Junior Jennifer Ene currently leads the team with 74 blocks which puts her seventh in the conference overall. She is tenth in the league for hitting percentage against conference opponents (.320).
 
Scouting UTEP: The Miners (5-19, 3-8 in C-USA) just broke a six-game losing streak, defeating Middle Tennessee last Sunday, 3-0. UTEP sits right above FIU in the C-USA standings, with a half-game lead on the Panthers.
 
UTEP leads the all-time series, 2-1. UTEP is a strong defensive team, sitting second in the conference with digs at 15.78 digs per set. They are led by senior Sarah Villa, whose 5.15 digs per set leads all C-USA qualifiers and ranks 19^th nationally.
 
Scouting UTSA: UTSA (16-6, 7-3 in C-USA) leads the all time series 4-0, FIU has never taken a match from the Roadrunners under Head Coach Rita Buck-Crockett. UTSA is coming off a road match upset (3-0) against Louisiana Tech.
 
Senior outside hitter Dajana Boskovic has won the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week award three times this season. She averages 5.41 points per set, which ranks sixth nationally and her 351 kills ranks 27^th.
 
FIU searches for a redemption victory against UTSA, who ultimately eliminated them from the conference tournament last season.
 
Following Friday's contest, the Panthers will play the UTSA Roadrunners at 2 p.m. (ET).

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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/.