BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (March 19, 2017) – The No. 15-ranked FIU beach volleyball team went 1-1 during day two of the Tiger Beach Challenge in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at the Mango Beach Volleyball Club. The team split the two Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) matches, losing to No. 8 LSU, 3-2, and defeating No. 17 Tulane, 4-1. The team advances to 9-6 on the season, and 5-2 in CCSA.
 
The Panthers fell one match short of a victory in their first contest on Sunday against the host Tigers. The No. 2 pair of Katie Hogan and Helene Thelle finished with strong a performance over LSU's Ashley Allmer and Emmy Allen (21-13, 21-13). In the No. 5 spot, Margherita Bianchin and Federica Frasca claimed their first victory as a pair over Riley Young and Megan Davenport (21-18, 21-13).
 
In the final match of the tournament, FIU claimed their third and final win of the weekend defeating the Green Wave, in decisive fashion, dropping only one match during the competition.
 
FIU will be back on the sand next weekend in St. Petersburg, Florida at the Eckerd College Battle on the Bay Tournament. They will open the weekend on March 24, with a match against Morehead State at 9:30 a.m. and Huntingdon at 11:45 a.m., and close the tournament on March 25 against Jacksonville State at 9:30 a.m. and host Tritons at 11 a.m.

(# 8) LSU def. FIU, 3-2
 
No. 1   Claire Coppola/Kristen Nuss (LSU) def. Anabela Sataric/Estefanie Bethancourt (FIU) 21-18, 21-23, 15-12
No. 2   Katie Hogan/Helene Thelle (FIU) def. Ashley Allmer/Emmy Allen (LSU) 21-13, 21-13
No. 3   Katie Lindelow/Olivia Powers (LSU) def. Kari Peterson/Taija Thomas (FIU) 21-19, 21-8
No. 4   Cati Leak/Maddie Ligon (LSU) def. Natalia Giron/Lina Bernier (FIU) 21-13, 21-13
No. 5   Margherita Bianchin/Federica Frasca (FIU) def. Riley Young/Megan Davenport (LSU) 21-18, 21-13
No. 6   Lilly Kessler/Taylor Bradley (LSU) def. Morgan Crawley/Mackenzie Walker (FIU) 22-20, 21-16
 
FIU def. Tulane, 4-1
 
No. 1   Katie Hogan/Helene Thelle (FIU) def. Maddy Mertz/Lan Nguyen (Tulane) 21-8, 21-7
No. 2   Tea Juric/Kaylie McHugh (Tulane) def. Anabela Sataric/Estefanie Bethancourt (FIU) 21-17, 21-17
No. 3   Taija Thomas/Kari Peterson (FIU) def. Hannah Holmes/Bri Correa (Tulane) 21-11, 24-22
No. 4   Margherita Bianchin/Federica Frasca (FIU) def. Annie Schurtz/Tarin Mergener (Tulane) 21-18, 21-12
No. 5   Lina Bernier/Natalia Giron (FIU) def. Christina McAfee/Sarah Strasner (Tulane) 21-12, 21-12
 
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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, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.