BATON ROUGE, LA. (March 13, 2016) - The ninth-ranked FIU beach volleyball team (5-2, 1-2 in CCSA) defeated conference rival, LSU, 3-2 and ULM, 4-1 to conclude Day Two of the Tiger Beach Challenge. With the two victories, graduate student
Tina Toghiyani reached her 42
nd win in dual play, surpassing 2015-alumn
Maryna Samoday and placing Toghiyani as the FIU all-time leader in dual victories.
The beach team got off to a good start on Sunday, taking out the Tigers to begin the day. The effort was led by Toghiyani and sophomore,
Estefanie Bethancourt who won 2-0 (23-21, 21-19). The deciding match came down to the No. 1 slot where junior,
Aren Cupp and graduate student,
Martyna Gluchowicz defeated LSU in a decisive 2-1 (21-12, 15-21, 15-9) victory. The win marks FIU's first CCSA victory in program history.
The Panthers continued the momentum, defeating ULM. At the five slot, redshirt sophomore,
Savannah Davis and sophomore,
Natalia Giron extended their win-streak to seven on the year, going 4-0 on the weekend. They remain the only undefeated Panther pair to play in all seven duals.
The Panthers will be back in action on Friday, March 25 in Deland, Fla. They take on No. 3 UCLA to kick off the Stetson Beach Invitational. First serve is scheduled for 9:00 a.m.
(#9) FIU def. LSU, 3-2
No. 1 Cupp/Gluchowicz (FIU) def. Lindelow/Allmer (LSU); 21-12, 15-21, 15-9
No. 2 Boyle/Kessler (LSU) def. Sataric/Friesen (FIU); 16-21, 21-11, 15-8
No. 3 Molle/Leak (LSU) def. Dodd/Hogan (FIU); 18-21, 21-13, 16-14
No. 4 Toghiyani/Bethancourt (FIU) def. Wood/Orellana (LSU); 23-21, 21-19
No. 5 Davis/Giron (FIU) def. Davenport/Boraski (LSU); 21-17, 19-21, 15-6
Exh. Peterson/Levorin (FIU) def. Young/McVey (LSU); 21-12, 17-21, 15-10
(#9) FIU def. ULM, 4-1
No. 1 Cupp/Gluchowicz (FIU) def. Pawlitz/Zaeske (ULM); 21-17, 21-16
No. 2 Peterson/Dodd (FIU) def. Swartz/Simpson (ULM); 21-19, 21-14
No. 3 Shearer/Crossfield (ULM) def. Hogan/Friesen (FIU); 17-21, 21-19, 15-12
No. 4 Toghiyani/Bethancourt (FIU) def. Griffith/Driver (ULM); 21-10, 21-18
No. 5 Davis/Giron (FIU) def. Hoffman/Jenkins (ULM); 21-9, 21-17
Exh. Levorin/Crawley (FIU) def. McClendon/Brown (ULM); 21-17, 21-12
#####
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).
###
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, visit
http://www.fiu.edu/.
