The Basics
- The No. 13 FIU beach volleyball team will be hard pressed to find a more challenging weekend on its 2018 schedule than what it is facing this weekend in the East Meets West Challenge at the famous Manhattan Beach Pier in Manhattan Beach, California. The Panthers opened up play of the two-day event, dropping both of its matches against three-time NCAA champion, and current, No. 2-ranked USC (4-1), and closed out the first day dropping a tough 3-2 decision to No. 4 UCLA. FIU drops to 6-3 on the year at the end of the day's matches.
- FIU's losses to USC and UCLA were its first of the year against teams ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-20 poll.
Game One Match Details
USC 4, FIU 1
FIU (6-2), USC (6-3)
Rankings: FIU – AVCA No. 13, DiG No. 14 | USC – AVCA No. 2, DiG No. 4
Manhattan Beach, California | Manhattan Beach Pier
- The Panthers dropped their first match of the day with a 4-1 setback to No. 2-ranked USC, 4-1. The loss was FIU's first of the season against a member of the AVCA Top 20.
- FIU fell behind in the match, 2-0, before the duo of
Mariana Dal Pozzo and
Taija Thomas got the Panthers on the board with a, 18-21, 21-18, 15-13 win at the No. 5 position. That proved to be FIU's only win of the contest as the Trojans took the final two games of the match.
-
Federica Frasca and
Margherita Bianchin, the Panthers only undefeated team (with five or more wins) coming into the weekend, at 7-0, dropped its first match of the season at the No. 1 position, 21-19, 21-15.
- FIU's all-time record against USC drops to 0-3 all-time with the loss. Prior to Saturday.
Results
No. 1 – Tina Graudina/Abril Bustamante (USC) def.
Federica Frasca/
Margherita Bianchin (FIU) 21-19, 21-15
No. 2 – Terese Cannon/Sammy Slater (USC) def.
Lina Bernier/
Dorina Klinger (FIU) 21-17, 19-21, 21-19
No. 3 – Haley Hallgren/Joy Dennis (USC) def.
Natalia Giron/
Estefanie Bethancourt (FIU) 21-15, 21-19
No. 4 – Jo Kremer/Jenna Belton (USC) def. Anabella Sataric/
Madison Besterfield (FIU) 21-14, 25-27, 16-14
No. 5 –
Taija Thomas/
Mariana Dal Pozzo (FIU) def. Alexandra Poletto/Maja Kaiser (USC) 18-21, 21-18, 15-13
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 5, 2*, 4
Game Two Match Details
UCLA 3, FIU 2
FIU (6-3), UCLA (9-3)
Rankings: FIU – AVCA No. 13, DiG No. 14 | UCLA– AVCA No. 4, DiG No. 5
Manhattan Beach, California | Manhattan Beach Pier
- FIU dropped its second match of the afternoon, on Saturday, with a hard-fought 3-2 decision to No. 4 UCLA. The Panthers had the match tied, 1-1, when Frasca and Bianchin posted a 11-21, 21-16, 15-12 victory at the No. 1 spot, only to have the Bruins win two of the last three matches.
- In addition to Frasca and Bianchin getting the win,
Estefanie Bethancourt and
Natalia Giron teamed up for a three-set thriller, 15-21, 21-19, 15-13, for the Panthers' second point of the match.
- FIU, who is now 0-4 all-time against UCLA, will get another chance to secure its first-ever win over the Bruins on March 30, when UCLA makes its way to the east coast for FIU's Surf 'N' Turf Challenge on South Beach.
Results
No. 1 –
Federica Frasca/
Margherita Bianchin (FIU) def. Nicole McNamara/Megan McNamara (UCLA), 11-21, 21-16, 15-12
No. 2 – Sarah Sponcil/Lily Justine (UCLA) def.
Lina Bernier/
Dorina Klinger (FIU), 16-21, 21-12, 15-10
No. 3 – Savvy Simo/Zana Muno (UCLA) def.
Anabela Sataric/
Madison Besterfield (FIU), 17-21, 21-16, 15-11
No. 4 –
Estefanie Bethancourt/
Natalia Giron (FIU) def. Elise Zappia/Mac May (UCLA), 15-21, 21-19, 15-13
No. 5 – Izzy Carey/Megan Muret (UCLA) def.
Mariana Dal Pozzo/
Taija Thomas (FIU), 21-17, 21-14
Order of Finish: 5, 1, 2, 3*, 4
Up Next
FIU will close out the East Meets West Challenge on Sunday against No. 1 ranked Pepperdine at 1 p.m. ET, followed by No. 3 Hawaii at 4 p.m.
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