Game Details
FIU 3, Southern Miss 1
FIU (19-11), Southern Miss (17-15)
Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018 | 2:30 p.m.
Huntington, West Virginia | Cam Henderson Center
 
Click here for 2018 C-USA Tournament central
 
The Basics
- The No. 6-seeded FIU volleyball team has advanced to its first-ever Conference USA Tournament championship match, with a 3-1 win over the No. 7-seed Southern Miss, on Saturday at Marshall University's Cam Henderson Center in Huntington, West Virginia. The Panthers will face top-seeded Rice on Sunday, Nov. 18, at 12 p.m. The Owls defeated North Texas, 3-1 in the first semifinal of the day.
 
- The Panthers, who finished the match with a .271 hitting percentage, hit at a .281 and .290 clip in the first and second sets, respectively, to take a 2-0 lead. However, in the third set, FIU posted a match-low .195 hitting percentage coupled with seven errors, allowing the Golden Eagles back into the contest. The Panthers would recover in the fourth-set to hit for a .345 percent mark, ending Southern Miss's season.  
 
- Margherita Bianchin (Venice, Italy) ended the afternoon with a match-high 22 kills, while Nina Petranovic (Polzela, Slovenia) with 16 kills and Ronja Klinger (Frauental, Austria ) with 11.
 
- Abbie Hughes (Mason, Ohio) posted 47 assists while Lina Bernier (San Juan, Puerto, Rico) was her usual reliable self defensively, recording 15 digs.

Quotable
"Our team did great focusing on success and staying on task. We've got one more to complete the job." - FIU Head Coach Rita Buck-Crockett
 
               1             2             3             4             F                           
FIU         25          25           20           25           3            
USM       20          19           25           18           0
              
Up Next
FIU advances to the Conference USA Tournament championship match where it will face Rice on Sunday, Nov. 18, at 12 p.m. The match can be seen live on ESPN+.

#####
 
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUVolleyball) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUVolleyball) for all the latest FIU volleyball news.
 
Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).