MIAMI – The FIU volleyball team returns to the court on Friday, Nov. 16, at 6 p.m., when it faces UTSA in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Volleyball Championship to be held at the Cam Henderson Center at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. The Panthers are the No. 6 seed while the Roadrunners are seeded third.
 
FIU returns to the C-USA Tournament for the first time since 2015 when the Panthers were a seven seed. That year they also faced UTSA, a No. 2 seed, in the tournament quarterfinals.
 
FIU PANTHERS | 17-11
Last Match: Nov. 10 vs. Rice, W, 3-1 (26-24, 25-22, 18-25, 25-22)
Next Match: Nov. 17, 2:30 p.m. vs. No. 2 seed WKU/No. 7 seed Southern Miss, C-USA Tournament Semifinals (if necessary).
 
UTSA ROADRUNNERS | 19-7
Last Match: Nov. 10 vs. UTEP, W, 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-21)
Next Match: Nov. 17, 2:30 p.m. vs. No. 2 seed WKU/No. 7 seed Southern Miss, C-USA Tournament Semifinals (if necessary).
 
Click here for 2018 C-USA Tournament bracket
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A LOOK AT FIU
The Panthers come into this Friday's quarterfinal match against boasting a 17-11 overall record, finishing sixth in the Conference USA regular season standings, and earning the No. 6 seed in the C-USA Tournament … The Panthers have won their last three matches – after dropping four-straight – and have taken 11 of their last 17 … FIU's 17 victories on the year is the most since the 2011 campaign when they won 21 matches (21-9) … Second Team All-Conference USA selection Margherita Bianchin (Venice, Italy) comes into Friday leading the team in kills with 367, with her 3.43 kills-per-set good enough for 10^th in Conference USA … She 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 ... In addition, Lina Bernier (San Juan, Puerto Rico) is fourth in digs-per-set (4.73) … Abbie Hughes (Mason, Ohio) 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 … Nina Petranovic (Polzela, Slovenia) is 19^th in kills-per-set (2.75) in C-USA.
 
A LOOK AHEAD
The winner of the FIU-UTSA match will face the winner of the WKU and Southern Miss match in the C-USA Tournament semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 17, at 2:30 p.m.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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