MIAMI – FIU volleyball standouts Margherita Bianchin (Venice, Italy) and Abbie Hughes (Mason, Ohio) earned Conference USA postseason honors, the league announced on Wednesday. Bianchin was named a Second Team All-C-USA selection while Hughes was named to the league's All-Freshman Team.
 
Bianchin, a senior outside hitter, leads the team in kills with 367, with her 3.43 kills-per-set good enough for 10^th in Conference USA, and is also eighth in C-USA in points-per-set (4.01), 11^th in aces (0.28) and 19^th in hitting percentage (.261). Bianchin has also recorded five triple-doubles on the year – which is good enough for a share of first in the nation, joining only two others – and has posted seven double-doubles on the year. She has logged 23 double-figure kill matches and two matches of 20-or-more kills.
 
Hughes leads the team on the year in assists with 914, and an assist-per-set average of 8.54. Her total assists are good enough for sixth in Conference USA, and her assists-per-set is ninth. The Ohio native has 473 assists in C-USA play, for an average of 8.76 assists-per-set. In addition, her 271 digs is second on the team, and she has also logged 103 kills on the year, sixth on the team. Hughes has recorded nine double-doubles on the year, including a 43-assist and career-high 23-dig night against UTSA, and logged her first career triple-double with an 11-kill, 33-assist, and 16-dig performance against regular season champion Rice in the regular season finale. Hughes was named C-USA Setter of the Week for the week ending Sept. 30, and tabbed the league's Freshman of the Week on Nov. 12.
 
FIU has earned the No. 6 seed for this week's 2018 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Volleyball Championship to be held at the Cam Henderson Center at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, Nov. 16-18. The Panthers, who finished the regular season with a 9-5 record (17-11 overall), will face the three seed, UTSA, in the final match of the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 16.  

2018 ALL-CONFERENCE USA VOLLEYBALL TEAMS
All-Conference USA First Team (12)
Yumi Garcia, Charlotte
Sigourney Kame, Florida Atlantic
Ivone Martinez, Florida Atlantic
Massiel Matos, Florida Atlantic
Valerie Valerian, North Texas
Karley York, North Texas
Nicole Lennon, Rice
Grace Morgan, Rice
Lee Ann Cunningham, Rice
Sarah Bell, Southern Miss
Kylie Grandy, Southern Miss
Rachel Anderson, WKU
 
All-Conference USA Second Team (16)
Reanna Richardson, Charlotte
Jocelyn Stoner, Charlotte
Tyra Galloway, Charlotte
Abbi Reid, Florida Atlantic
Margherita Bianchin, FIU
Ciara Debell, Marshall
Bailey Mason, Middle Tennessee
Barbara Teakell, North Texas
Jordyn Williams, North Texas
Anota Adekunle, Rice
Alexis Coombs, Southern Miss
Macey Austin, UTEP
Kara Teal, UTSA
Kirby Smith, UTSA
Amanda Gonzales, UTSA
Sophia Cerino, WKU
 
C-USA All-Freshman Team (8)
Tyra Galloway, Charlotte
Nya Steele, Charlotte
Abbie Hughes, FIU
Rhett Robinson, North Texas
Carly Graham, Rice
Anota Adekunle, Rice
Payton Frederick, WKU
Lauren Matthews, WKU

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