Miami, Fla. -  The FIU women's volleyball team (5-15, 2-5 C-USA) came out victorious in a Sunday afternoon matchup winning 3-2 (25-22, 20-25, 25-19, 25-27, 15-11) over Middle Tennessee State University at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center. This win marked the first time the Panthers won back-to-back matches at home this season. 
 
"We have seen them working harder in practice and be more mindful of the errors that we have been committing and all in all just becoming more resilient," said Head Coach Cristina Robertson. "We have been dealing with a lot of adversity this season, and that has taken a toll on us, we couldn't catch a break. So, I think us becoming just a better team and playing for each other and playing with a lot of heart and pride."

The Panthers took the first set 25-22. It was an impressive comeback by the Panthers after MTSU stormed out to a 10-5 lead. The Blue Raiders held their lead until FIU tied up the opening set 16-16. Both teams would exchange points until the Panthers took the lead for good when it was 20-19. The Panthers held off a late comeback by MTSU to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
The Blue Raiders won the second set 25-20. Like the previous set, MTSU came out with an early lead at 8-3. FIU responded with a 6-1 scoring run to tie up the set at 9-9. The Blue Raiders would take control of the set midway through, and their lead extended to seven points when it was 22-15. The deficit was too much to overcome for FIU and MTSU tied the match 1-1.

The pace of the third set was a lot slower compared to the first two and neither team was able to take a commanding lead early on. The set was tied 11-11 and FIU was finally able to break away from MTSU. The Panthers went on a 5-0 scoring run to lead 16-11and never looked back. FIU did not give up lead from that point on won the third set 25-19.
 
With a 2-1 lead in the match, the Panthers were unable to close out MTSU. The Blue Raiders tied up the match again after winning the fourth set 27-25. This was the closest set of the entire match as neither team had a lead of more than three points. The Blue Raiders edged out the Panthers late in the set after going through 18 ties.
 
In the fifth and final set, MTSU scored first but the Panthers responded with a 5-0 scoring run which was the deciding stretch. The Blue Raiders rallied back to trail 9-8 but the Panthers' defense pulled through to win the finale 15-11.
 
The Panthers' offense was firing from all sides in today's match. Four players finished with double digit kills and were led by Athina Dimitriadis' 19. She was also second on the team with an impressive .486 hit percentage. Alyssa Wissinger and Madison Morgan tied for second on the team with 17.
 
Morgan's 17 kills are a new career high for the freshman and today's performance really stood out for Head Coach Cristina Robertson.
 
"That is amazing to see, and she has been going all year long. She's had a few moments where she took a little bit of a downplay, but she's one of those kids who is very coachable. She works really hard in practice and takes feedback very well. She's very competitive and will do anything that she can to get better and better. She loves what she's doing and as you can see her today, she was she was happy playing, and she was definitely big in our win today."
 
Other Panthers that came up big in the win is Sarah Nading and Jade Sadeiko. Nading is back in the starting lineup after Camila De La Rosa went out with an injury in the last match. She stepped up and finished with a career high 57 assists. That marks the third time this season where she breaks her personal record in assists. Sadeiko was active on both sides of the ball. She was the fourth on the team with 10 kills and second on the team with 14 digs. Katie Turner led FIU with 29 digs.
 
UP NEXT
After their win, FIU will be back on the road for their longest road trip of the season. They will play three straight games away from Miami starting this Friday, Oct. 21 to take on Rice University at 7:00 p.m. ET. FIU will stay in Texas for their following match play the University of Texas at San Antonio on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 2:00 p.m. ET.
 
Both matches will be streamed to watch on CUSA.tv.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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