EMERSON, Georgia (April 22, 2016) – The tenth-ranked FIU beach volleyball team (12-8) split the first day of pool play, falling to No. 9 Georgia State, 3-2 and routing Tulane, 3-2. The Panthers were led by graduate student Tina Toghiyani and junior Aren Cupp who won both their matches in straight sets. The pair as a duo, improves to 35-9 for their careers, by far the best of any Panther pair in program history.
 
Cupp, with two victories, moves up in the all-time wins list for dual competition with 41, tying 2015-alumn Maryna Samoday for third.
 
The Panthers, the No. 3 seed in the tournament, kicked off the day against No. 3 seed Georgia State. Falling to an early 1-0 deficit after dropping the match on Court 2, FIU tied it all up with a 21-11, 21-19 victory from redshirt sophomore Savannah Davis and sophomore Natalia Giron on Court 5. The Panthers promptly took a 2-1 lead in the dual after Toghiyani and Cupp took their match on Court 4, 21-14, 21-15. Both Court 1 and Court 2 went to a third and decisive set after close rallies all morning. GSU ended up taking both to complete the comeback and defeat FIU 3-2.
 
With the rain clearing up in the afternoon, the Panthers came back strong against the Green Wave, defeating them 3-2. Graduate student Martyna Gluchowicz and sophomore Estefanie Bethancourt drew first blood with a 21-15, 21-9 victory at the No. 3 slot. Davis and Giron continued their stellar season performance with a 21-19, 21-13 win on Court 5. FIU clinched the match with a victory at the No. 4 spot by Toghiyani and Cupp (21-18, 21-5).
 
With the victories, the dynamic duo of Davis and Giron moved up in the record books. Claiming their 16^th an 17^th victories of the year, respectively, the pair moves into third place all-time in program history for most victories by a pair in a single season, passing Martyna Gluchowicz/Anna Budinska (2015). Davis and Giron are only two victories away from tying the all-time single season record, set by Maryna Samoday/Anja Licka (2015).
 
The Panthers will be back in action tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. ET. FIU will be facing the Florida Atlantic Owls. The Panthers have never lost to the Owls in six meetings. Quarterfinals are set to begin at 2:00 p.m. ET.
 
(#9) GSU def. (#10) FIU, 3-2
 
No. 1 Button/Olivova (GSU) def. Boulanger/Sataric (FIU); 21-23, 21-14, 15-13
No. 2 Interwies/Rawls (GSU) def. Dodd/Hogan (FIU); 21-6, 21-15
No. 3 Pickering/Rohan (GSU) def. Gluchowicz/Bethancourt (FIU); 14-21, 21-18, 15-4
No. 4 Toghiyani/Cupp (FIU) def. Weiner/Wilson (GSU); 21-14, 21-14
No. 5 Davis/Giron (FIU) def. Townsend/Cook (GSU); 21-11, 21-19
 
Order of finish: 2, 5, 4, 3, 1
 
(#10) FIU def. Tulane, 3-2
 
No. 1 Juric/Wegner (TUL) def. Boulanger/Sataric (FIU); 21-14, 21-19
No. 2 Mertz/Nguyen (TUL) def. Dodd/Hogan (FIU); 21-12, 16-21, 15-13
No. 3 Gluchowicz/Bethancourt (FIU) def. Correa/Diirell (TUL); 21-15, 21-9
No. 4 Toghiyani/Cupp (FIU) def. Strasner/Chin (TUL); 21-18, 21-5
No. 5 Davis Giron (FIU) def. McAfee/Holmes (TUL); 21-19, 21-13
 
Order of finish: 3, 5, 4, 1, 2

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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 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/.