MIAMI (Feb. 8, 2016) - Dig Magazine released its preseason rankings, naming FIU the No. 5 team in the country and the No. 1 squad in the East. Entering the fourth year in program history, this marks the highest preseason ranking the beach team has ever received. Previously, the Panthers were ranked ninth, both in 2014 and 2015.

"I'm very excited about the preseason rankings," said Head Coach Rita Buck-Crockett. "It's good to get the respect that our program is a consistent one."

"It's an amazing feeling," said the team captain, junior Aren Cupp. "I think we deserve it one hundred percent. We've all been working really hard during the off-season. We are ready to go."

Last season, the beach team finished the year ranked fourth in the nation with a record of 20-3. They were ranked as high as third after defeating the 2014 National Champions, Pepperdine. The Panthers recorded five top-10 victories with two of those against teams ranked in the top three.

At the 2015 AVCA National Championships, the Panthers swept their biggest rival and the No. 6 seed, Florida State Seminoles, 5-0. 

The Panthers graduated six top-10 players last year, but have only dropped one spot in the rankings. FIU will play six of the other top-10 schools this season: USC, Hawaii, FSU, UCLA, Georgia State, and Stetson.

The Panthers will open up the 2016 season on March 4 at Fort Lauderdale Beach, where they will host New Orleans. First serve is set for 11:00 a.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.Maidiqueand 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 180bachelor'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, theWolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA andhas over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visithttp://www.fiu.edu/.