EL PASO, Texas (November 4, 2016) – The FIU volleyball team (8-17, 2-9 in C-USA) fell to UTEP (7-18, 4-8 in C-USA) in a crucial conference match on Friday evening in a five-set thriller (25-19, 21-25, 25-16, 25-27, 15-9). The loss drops the Panthers to 2-9 in Conference USA and now makes them dependent on various games around the league for a spot as the eighth seed at the 2016 Conference USA Championships.
 
FIU was largely outplayed on Friday night, only outperforming UTEP on the net. Senior Katie Hogan led the evening with her ninth double-double of the season: 12 kills and a career-high 16 digs. Junior Jennifer Ene also contributed 13 kills on a .440 hitting percentage and added two solo blocks on the night, making her eight solo blocks removed from the all-time leader in that category.
 
Six Panthers posted at least one solo block in the match for a team total of 11. The team was led by junior Brianna Gogins with four. That performance on the net, ties the team for fourth in program-history for a single match. The last time FIU recorded double digit solo blocks in a single game was in 1995.
 
The Panthers began the match with a new lineup, including junior Giovannie Jean-Louis, her first start in an FIU uniform. Junior Mariana Dal Pozzo also got the nod in her sixth start this season, but first as libero. Not much went the way of FIU in the first set, dropping it 19-25 to UTEP. Hogan led the team with five kills and six digs in the set.
 
The second set was much smoother for FIU, hitting a .321 hitting percentage for the set and tying the match with the 25-21 victory. Ene exploded for seven kills on nine attempts, hitting an outstanding .778 percentage.
 
After a lackluster third set in which the Panthers fell, 16-25, the team rebounded in the fourth set to tie the match again, 27-25. Redshirt freshman Lina Bernier led the way with four kills and five digs. Bernier would end the night with 13 digs and one kills shy of her third career double-double.
 
The final set went the way of the Miners in a 9-15 defeat. The Panthers hit a .105 percentage compared to UTEP's .368 clip.
 
FIU will be back in action on Sunday, November 6 to take on UTSA at 2 p.m. The match will not be streamed, but live stats will be available on FIUSports.com.

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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/.