Boca Raton, Fla. – No. 14 FIU (20-9) ends their regular season at the Florida Atlantic Burrow Beach Bash, going undefeated with a 4-0 record, beating Tulane, South Carolina, No. 16 Stetson and No. 18 Florida Atlantic. The Panthers' 20 victories already ties their mark from last season, with matches still to be played at the Conference USA Tournament. 

Day One

The Panthers began the event with a convincing 4-1 win over CUSA foe, Tulane University, with FIU seeing victories from courts one, two, three and five. Giada Bianchi and Reka Orsi Toth started the Panthers off with a convincing win on court one, winning in straight sets, 21-10 and 21-14. Lucie Pokorna and Zuzanna Bielak continued on court three with 21-14 and 21-13 victories. Zoe Cahill and Hania Taduran clinched the win for the Panthers on court five, winning their first set 21-16 before dropping their second, but bounced back for the win in the third set with a 15-10 victory. Alice Pratesi and Lisa Luini secured the fourth point on court two in straight sets 21-15 and 21-14.

 

 

FIU continued their winning ways against the South Carolina, beating the Gamecocks 3-2, with the Panthers' securing wins on courts one thru three. Giada Bianchi and Reka Orsi Toth won the first point for the Panthers in straight sets, cruising to 21-9 and 21-15 victories on court one. The win marked the 100th victory for Reka Orsi Toth in her career between her time at LMU and FIU. The next win for the Panthers came on court three from Lucie Pokorna and Zuzanna Bielak. The duo dropped their first set, before battling back with two straight victories, 21-19 and 15-12. Alice Pratesi and Lisa Luini clinched the victory for the Panthers on court two, winning both of their matches 21-19, completing a 2-0 first day of the invite in Boca.

 

 

Day Two
 

Day two for the Panthers started much like day one ended, with an FIU victory, thanks to a 3-1 win over No. 16 Stetson. Reka Orsi Toth and Giada Bianchi once again won on court one, gritting out a 22-20 victory in their first set before surging to a 21-14 win to clinch the point for the Panthers. FIU's next point came from court three, with Lucie Pokorna and Zuzanna Bielak. The Panthers' second-winningest duo on the season won their match in three sets, prevailing in the first set 21-18, and winning the match 16-14 in the third set after dropping the second set. Alice Pratesi and Lisa Luini picked up the win for the Panthers on court two in three sets as well, winning 26-24 before dropping their second sets and going on to win the court and the match, 15-10 in the final set. The match on court four was not completed due to time constraints. The victory marked the third win against a ranked opponent for the Panthers this season, and continued their undefeated record at the Burrow Beach Bash.

 

 

FIU's final match of the invite came against the host school and in-state rival, No. 18 Florida Atlantic. The final match of the invite saw FIU complete the win, and go undefeated against Florida Atlantic on the season. FIU's first win came on court five from the duo of Lauren Huggins and Kendra Brown, winning in straight sets, with both scores being 21-18. Lucie Pokorna and Zuzanna Bielak finished their invite with a victory in three sets, winning the first set 21-16 and the third set 15-13, putting the Panthers up against the Owls 2-1. Alice Pratesi and Lisa Luini completed the win over their rival in straight sets on court two, winning 21-17 and 21-16. Both duos of Lisa Luini/Alice Pratesi and Lucie Pokorna/Zuzanna Bielak went undefeated on their respective courts for the Panthers. The match on court four went unfinished due to time constraints.

 

 

The event marks their third time this season FIU has gone undefeated in an invite, and the first time since the Panthers went 4-0 at the FIU invite on March 1-2. The Panthers have won five matches in a row, and have prevailed in six out of their last eight matches going into the CUSA Tournament.

UP NEXT

With the Panthers' regular season over, FIU's next matches will come in the Conference USA Tournament in Sugar Beach, Louisiana on April 25-27. Opponents are still to be determined.

SOCIAL MEDIA 

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