Match Details
FIU 3, LA Tech 2
Records: FIU 3-13, 2-7 C-USA, LA Tech 6-17, 1-8 C-USA
Sunday, October 22 | 2 p.m. | Rustin, La. | Thomas Assembly Center

 The Basics

-        Junior Margherita Bianchin (Traviso, Italy) produced a career-high 23 kills and had her eighth double-double of the season as FIU snapped a seven-match skid in a 3-2 victory (25-19, 26-24, 27-29, 20-25, 16-14) at the Thomas Assembly Center Sunday afternoon. FIU is now 3-13 overall, 2-7 in Conference USA> LA Tech slips to 6-17, with a 1-8 C-USA mark. 

-        FIU came out on fire, hitting .355 in an opening set decided by six points, the biggest margin in the tight contest. The Panthers were able to sideout the Lady Techsters at 64 percent in the opening frame.

-        FIU hit .244 for the contest, their second-best mark of the season. Bianchin hit at .364, her second-best mark of the year. Senior Jennifer Ene (Carrollton, Texas) had a .429 attack percentage and produced 11 kills, her fifth double-digit kills total of the season.

-        Three Panthers had double-digit kills, Taija Thomas (Scarborough, Ontario, Canada) had 16, but four Panthers had at least 10 digs. Bianchin's 18 led the squad, and sophomore Helene Thelle (Tolvsrod, Norway) added 17 digs. Freshman Molly Feldmeth (South Pasadena, California) collected 12 digs and junior Sheila Rojas (Miami, Florida / Southwest Miami HS / UCF) added 10.

-        Feldmeth had her second double-double of the season with 24 assists. Freshman Aleksandra Grigoreva (Moscow, Russia) had 29 assists and eight digs.

From the Floor
"I think that our passing improved a lot from Friday. In addition, some players from the bench made the difference. This time we didn't give up - we are learning how to finish the match. In the Marshall game, we saw some improvements, but in this game we really fought to grind out the win." - Margherita Bianchin

Stat of the Match
In the fifth set, which has not been kind to FIU this season, the Panthers got down 5-1, but were able to sideout the Lady Techsters at 71 percent to grind out the win.                                                                                                                                     

Next Up
FIU has just one game next week, a home bout against Florida Atlantic, starting at 7 p.m.

For volleyball ticket information, contact the FIU Ticket Office at 305-FIU-GAME or log onto www.FIUSports.com.

Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUVolleyball) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUVolleyball) for all the latest FIU softball 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 eight different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including Lime Court at FIU Arena and Riccardo Silva Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a "R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity" and recognized as a Carnegie Community Engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as business, engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy and is ranked second in Florida in Forbes Magazine's "America's Best Employers" list. FIU graduates are consistently among the highest paid college graduates in Florida and are among the leaders of public and private organizations throughout South Florida. 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 with multiple state-of-the-art research facilities including the Wall of Wind Research and Testing Facility, FIU's Medina Aquarius Program and the Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute.  FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and Tianjin, China. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.