MIAMI, Fla. -  The FIU women's volleyball team is closing out the season with three of their last four matches at home. That stretch will begin this weekend as they host Charlotte tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. and No. 22 Western Kentucky University on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 12:00 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 4 vs Charlotte (8-14, 2-8 C-USA)

• Time/Site: 7 p.m. ET at Ocean Bank Convocation Center
• Live Stats
• Streaming Video: CUSA.tv

 Sunday, Nov. 6 vs #22 WKU (23-2, 11-0 C-USA)

• Time/Site: 12 p.m. ET at Ocean Bank Convocation Center
• Live Stats
• Streaming Video: CUSA.tv

The Panthers (7-17, 4-6 C-USA) dropped their previous match against the University of North Florida after defeating their in-state rival, Florida Atlantic University, last Friday. FIU has been playing well as of late winning two of their last three matches. They are currently in seventh place in the Conference USA standings.

FIU now has three players with at least 200 kills. Middle blocker, Athina Dimitriadis, leads the pack with 229. Outside hitter, Emily Meyer, is second on the team with 206 and rounding off the group is middle blocker, Alyssa Wissinger. She has exactly 200 kills so far this season.

SCOUTING Charlotte:
The 49ers are entering Friday night's contest dropping their last four matches. They are in tenth place in the conference standings but only one game out of the eighth seed to qualify for the conference tournament. One of the two conference wins the 49ers have this season came against FIU at Charlotte on Oct. 9.
 
The 49ers were picked to finish fourth in the C-USA Preseason Poll were headlined by two players in the 2022 C-USA preseason team, Emani Foster and Amani McArthur. Outside hitter, Emani Foster, is first in all of C-USA with 425 kills and leads the conference averaging 5.06 kills per set. She is also first in the conference in total points recorded with 470.5.

Middle blocker, Amani McArthur, is second on the 49er's with 175 kills. She is third in the conference with a .390 hitting percentage and also has a tremendous impact defensively. She leads the 49ers with 91 blocks and is third in the conference averaging 1.17 per set.
 
Series Lead: FIU leads 11-10

SCOUTING WKU:
WKU was selected as the 2022 preseason favorite in Conference USA and they are playing up to those expectations. They are currently in first place in C-USA with an impressive 11-0 record in conference play. The Hilltoppers have not dropped a single set in their last four matches defeating their opponents in three straight sets each time.

WKU had three players named to the 2022 C-USA preseason team: Paige Briggs, Lauren Matthews, and Katie Isenbarger. Outside hitter, Paige Briggs is second on the Hilltoppers with 315 kills and is third in C-USA averaging 3.80 kills per set. One slot abover Briggs in that category is her teammate, Lauren Matthews. The Hilltoppers' fifth year middle hitter was chosen as the C-USA Preseason Player of the Year. She has collected 331 kills this season to lead WKU and is averaging 3.99 per set which is second best in the conference. She is also sixth in the conference averaging 1.04 blocks per set and second in C-USA with a .400 hitting percentage.

The third player from WKU to be selected to the 2022 Conference USA Preseason Team is middle hitter Katie Isenbarger. She is fourth on the team with 117 kills and one of the top blockers in the conference. Isenbarger has collected 98 blocks this season and is second in C-USA averaging 1.20 per set. The Hilltoppers also feature the top setter in the conference. Redshirt freshman, Callie Bauer leads C-USA with 905 assists and is also first averaging 10.90 per set.

Series History: WKU leads 41-8
 
UP NEXT
After hosting these two home matches, the Panthers will play their final road contest of the season against Louisiana Tech University on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 7:00 p.m.
FIU will close out the regular season at home for their following match. They will take on Florida Atlantic University on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 12:00 p.m. for senior day.

Both matches are scheduled to be broadcasted 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 volleyball news. General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.