Houston, TX. -  The FIU women's volleyball team (5-16, 2-6 C-USA) dropped their Friday night matchup in three straight sets against No. 21 Rice University (11-25, 19-25, 16-25).

The Panthers dropped the opening set 25-11. It was a tough set for FIU's offense as they were playing from behind right out of the gate. When the Owls were leading 19-11, they finished off the Panthers in the opening set with a 6-0 scoring run.

The Owls rode their momentum from the first set into the second to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Rice took a 5-1 lead early in this set and Head Coach Cristina Robertson subbed in the Panthers' kills leader, Emily Meyer, for an offensive punch. FIU chipped away at Rice's lead and sliced the deficit to two at 10-8. That was the closest FIU would get to tying the set as the Owls never gave up the lead and cruised to win the set 25-19.
 
In the third set, the Panthers and Owls were trading points and FIU kept it close. The Panthers took their first lead of the night at 3-1. The Owls would take the lead shortly after and their offense was overpowering which made it difficult for FIU to keep the set at striking distance. Rice would continue to separate and extend their lead to win 25-16.

Rice (18-2, 8-0 C-USA) remains undefeated in conference play and has won three consecutive matches. Athina Dimitriadis led FIU wit 9 kills and finished with an impressive .412 hit percentage. Sarah Nading paced the team with 25 assists while Katie Turner led FIU with 16 digs.
 
UP NEXT
FIU will stay in Texas and be back in action this Sunday afternoon to take on the University of Texas at San Antonio at 2 p.m. ET. The match will be streamed on CUSA.tv. The Panthers will conclude their road trip in Boca Raton, Fl. next Friday, Oct. 28 for an in-state matchup against Florida Atlantic University slated for 7 p.m. ET.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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