The Basics
- The No. 10 FIU beach volleyball team completed an impressive weekend sweep, on Saturday, with a pair of 5-0 victories over No. 17 Stetson and No. 13 Georgia State during the final day of the Stetson University Spring Fling in DeLand, Florida. The wins improve the Panthers to 4-0 on the year and 1-0 in Coastal Collegiate Sports Association play with its win over Georgia State. It's the second-straight season – and only the second time in program history – that the Panthers have started the season 4-0.  

Dual One Details
FIU 5, Stetson 0 
FIU (3-0), Stetson (2-1)
Rankings: FIU – ACVA No. 10/DiG No. 12, Stetson – ACVA No. 17/DiG No. 15
DeLand, Florida | Stetson University Cooper Beach Courts

- The Panthers recorded its third-straight sweep to start the 2019 season, with a 5-0 victory over No. 17 Stetson on Saturday morning, on the Hatters' home court, however, the win didn't come easy for FIU. Two of the five duals – Nos. 1 and 3 went to three sets – while the Panthers won court five in come-from-behind fashion.

- Lina Bernier (San Juan, Puerto Rico) and Erika Zembyla (Nicosia, Cypress) continue to play solid volleyball, posting a convincing 21-10, 21-12 win over the Hatters on court four for the Panthers' first win of the day.

- After a 21-12 win in the first set, on court five, Katie Friesen (Manitoba, Canada) and Madison Besterfield (Tampa, Florida) found themselves in a dog-fight in the second set of the dual. The FIU duo trailed 16-15 before scoring six of the final nine points to secure the win, putting the Panthers up 2-0.

- Ali Denney (Jupiter, Florida) and Abbie Hughes (Mason, Ohio), playing together for just the third time, secured the dual victory for FIU with a 21-17, 21-15 win at the number two position.

- The final two duals of the morning, on the number one and three courts, would both go three sets. FIU's number one tandem of Margherita Bianchin (Venice, Italy) and Federica Frasca (Rome, Italy) came out on the winning end of a wild affair. Bianchin and Frasca took the first set on court one, 25-23, however, trailed 22-21, before outscoring their opponents 4-1 en route to the win. After falling behind early in set two (7-0), and eventually dropping the set, 21-15, the Italian duo would secure the win with a third-set win, 15-7. At the No. 3 position, Dorina Klinger (Feldkirchen, Austria) and Ronja Klinger (Frauental, Austria) found themselves in three close sets that weren't separated by more than three points in the outcome. The sisters eventually took court three, 21-19, 18-21, 15-13. 

- FIU is 5-2 all-time against the Hatters, having won its last three duals.

Results
No. 1 – Margherita Bianchin/Federica Frasca (FIU) def. Carly Perales/Sunniva Helland-Hansen (SU), 25-23, 15-21, 15-7
No. 2 – Ali Denney/Abbie Hughes (FIU) def. Darby Dunn/Sammee Thomas (SU), 21-17, 21-15
No. 3 – Dorina Klinger/Ronja Klinger (FIU) def. Rachel Noble/Ana Costa (SU), 21-19, 18-21, 15-13
No. 4 – Lina Bernier/Erika Zembyla (FIU) def. Yasmin Kuck/Alexa Richardson (SU), 21-10, 21-12
No. 5 – Katie Friesen/Madison Besterfield (FIU) def. Rebecca Ingram/Quinci Birker (SU), 21-12, 21-19
Ext. – Mariana Dal Pozzo/Nina Petranovic (FIU) vs. Julie Varga/Samantha Harris (SU), 19-21, 21-14

Order of Finish: 4, 5, 2, 1, 3

Dual Two Details
FIU 5, Georgia State 0 
FIU (4-0, 1-0 CCSA), Georgia State (2-2, 0-1 CCSA)
Rankings: FIU – ACVA No. 10/DiG No. 12, Georgia State – ACVA No. 13/DiG No. 14
DeLand, Florida | Stetson University Cooper Beach Courts

- The Panthers closed out the weekend in convincing fashion, winning their second-straight dual of the day over a Top 20 team, as they handed No. 13 Georgia State a 5-0 loss. All but one court was decided by two sets.

- FIU's top four pairs all stayed the same from the previous three duals in DeLand. Mariana Dal Pozzo (Toledo, Brazil) and Nina Petranovic (Polzela, Slovenia) played their first collegiate match together, for the Panthers, on the number five court. The duo took the first set, 21-18, while Georgia State took set two by the same score. Dal Pozzo and Petranovic came out in set three and gave FIU a 2-0 lead in the dual with a 15-11 third set win.

- Georgia State was FIU's first Coastal Collegiate Sports Association dual of the season. In addition, the win over the Panthers improves FIU's record against GSU to 6-5 all-time, with the blue and gold having won the last three duals.  
  
Results
No. 1 – Margherita Bianchin/Federica Frasca (FIU) def. Georgia Johnson/Eden Hawes (GSU) 21-14, 21-16
No. 2 – Ali Denney/Abbie Hughes (FIU) def. Brooke Weiner/Kelly Dorn (GSU) 21-17, 21-11
No. 3 – Dorina Klinger/Ronja Klinger (FIU) def. Maddy Delmonte/Olivia Stasevich (GSU) 21-17, 22-20
No. 4 – Lina Bernier/Erika Zembyla (FIU) def. Kaylee McClure/Kate Novack (GSU) 21-11, 21-13
No. 5 – Mariana Dal Pozzo/Nina Petranovic (FIU) def. Maddie Gordon/Becky Tresham (GSU) 21-18, 18-21, 15-11
Ext. – Brooke McDermott/Helene Thelle (FIU) def. Ashley Bauchert/Bailey Hatchett (GSU) 21-12, 25-23

Order of Finish: 4, 5, 1, 3, 2

Up Next
Following this weekend's season-opening competition, the Panthers will head to the west coast for five duals, including four at the prestigious East Meets West Invitational in Manhattan Beach, California, March 9-10. The Panthers will begin play with a single dual against Concordia University, in Irvine, California, March 8, at 4 p.m. ET. After the meeting with the Eagles, FIU will take on four of the top five teams in the America Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason poll; USC (No. 2) and defending NCAA National Champion UCLA (No. 1) on March 9, and Hawaii (No. 5) and Pepperdine (No. 4) on March 10.

#####
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).