Boca Raton, Fla. -  The FIU women's volleyball team (7-16, 4-6 C-USA) picked up its second Conference USA road victory of the season winning 3-2 (25-21, 17-25, 25-23, 19-25, 19-17) over Florida Atlantic University on Friday night at the FAU Arena.
 
The victory over the Owls marks the first time the Panthers won consecutive Conference USA matches this season.

The Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the match after winning the first set 25-21. FIU won the opening set in dominating fashion as they never trailed a single time. The Owls almost pulled off a comeback rallying for four straight points to trail 17-16 but the Panthers buckled to outscore FAU 8-5 the rest of the way.
 
The Owls won the second set 25-17. Just like the Panthers in the first set, FAU controlled the lead for most of the set. It was close early on and FIU was still in it to potentially take a 2-0 lead, but the Owls gained separation late in the set. Once the score was 20-16, FAU closed out the Panthers on a 5-0 scoring run.
 
The Panthers regained the lead the in the match by winning the third set in a close battle 25-23. FAU was able to tie up the match again and force a final set by winning set four 25-19.
 
FIU volleyball is no stranger to matches going the distance as four of their first 10 conference matches have gone the complete five sets. The defining set of the match against FAU was one of the more thrilling finales all season for FIU. The Panthers stormed out to a 4-0 lead in the fifth set and their early lead reached 7-1. Halfway through the set and with a large deficit, the Owls slowly chipped away at FIU's lead.
 
The Panthers still had the lead late in the set 11-7, but FAU tied it up thanks to a 4-0 run. From there, both teams would exchange points until it was tied again at 17-17. FIU finally got the two point lead they needed to win the set 19-17 and ultimately the match. It was only fitting that the final two points for FIU were recorded by the two players that led them in kills during this match.
 
Outside hitter, Jade Sadeiko, led the Panthers with 18 kills. She was also second on the team with 20 digs. Sadeiko has recorded double digit kills and digs in back-to-back matches.  
 
Defensively, the Panthers had another match with four different players recording double digit kills. Libero, Katie Turner, led FIU in digs with 27. Madisen Miller finished with 14 digs and Paige Thibault had 12. 
 
Alyssa Wissinger was second on FIU with 11 kills and led the team with an impressive .333 hit percentage. Setter, Sarah Nading, paced the Panthers with another match of over 40 assists recording 45.

UP NEXT
After their win tonight, FIU will return home to Miami for their following match in a non-conference matchup against the University of North Florida at 4:00 p.m. This match will be streamed on CUSA.tv  

SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Instagram (@FIUVolleyball), Twitter (@FIUVolleyball), and Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUVolleyball) for all the latest Women's Soccer news. General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.