Fayetteville, Ark. - The FIU women's volleyball team fell to the University of Colorado (22-25, 19-25, 18-25) Friday afternoon and later dropped its second match of the day against the University of Arkansas (18-25, 21-25, 22-25) at the Arkansas Invitational.
MATCH 1 vs University of Colorado
The Panthers (1-8) were coming off their first win of the season against Little Rock the night before and had a long day ahead of them.
FIU came out strong in the first set and had the lead early on. The Buffaloes answered back when they were trailing 6-4 and tied up the set. Both teams were trading points but Colorado regained the lead at 9-8 and never gave it up. Colorado edged out a win in the first set 22-25.
The Panthers' offense went flat during the last two sets. It was a tough first match for their offense as Freshman, Madison Morgan, was the only player with double digit kills (10).
In the second set, the Buffaloes were in full control. They had a 17-6 lead at one point during the set and won 19-25. With a 2-0 lead in the match, Colorado made quick work of the Panthers in the third set.
The third set was the lowest scoring output for the Panthers during the match. Colorado stormed out with a 5-0 run to open the set. The Buffaloes overpowered FIU winning 18-25 and added another sweep to their undefeated season.
Junior Sarah Nading chipped in with 28 assists and nine digs while Graduate student Katie Turner led FIU with 21 digs. Emily Meyer's match streak of double digit kills ended at five and she came off a career high performance with 19 kills against Little Rock.
MATCH 2 vs University of Arkansas
The Panthers second match of the day was in the evening against the host of the tournament, the University of Arkansas. Things didn't get any easier for the Panthers as the Razorbacks only had one loss to their record going into the match.
It was back and forth in the first set and midway through it was tied 13-13. Arkansas created separation later in the set and won without much trouble 18-25. Going back to their match against Colorado, this was the third set in a row in which the Panthers did not score 20 or more points.
FIU picked up a notch in the second set against the Razorbacks. The Panthers were executing more on offense but they were constantly playing from behind. Arkansas led 6-1 and had a comfortable lead for the majority of the set.
The Razorbacks withstood a comeback by FIU and the Panthers were able to cut the lead to one. FIU was only down 18-19 late in the second set but Arkansas went on a 6-3 run to put an end to their rally.
The third set was the Panthers' best performance of the entire day but it was to no avail. Their offense was in a better flow and more players were involved like Graduate student Alyssa Wissinger. She led FIU with 10 kills and a .333 hitting percentage.
The Razorbacks did not allow the Panthers to get a lead at any point during the third set. They won 22-25 to finish the match and now have a 6-1 record this season.
This was a good bounce back match for Meyer as she finished second on the team with 9 kills and added 13 digs.
UP NEXT
The Panthers will have a few days off until their home opener on Tuesday, September 13 against Florida Gulf Coast University. The match is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.ET at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center in Miami, FL.
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