DAYTON, Ohio — FIU's volleyball program was downed in its opening two matches of 2024 on Friday at the Dayton Flyer Invitational.
The Panthers were matched up with stiff competition to start off their season and fell in straight sets to Northern Iowa and (RV) Ohio State.
Freshman Jillian Huckabey produced a standout performance in FIU's match against OSU, racking up 16 kills at a .250 clip.
Newcomer Courtney O'Brien combined for 14 kills over the two matches.
Northern Iowa
FIU fell to UNI by set scores of 25-12, 25-11 and 25-20. The Panthers trailed by a significant margin early in the opening two sets and battled back, but fell short in the first two frames.
FIU showed its fight in the third set, holding leads ay 8-6 and 10-8. O'Brien's kill gave the Panthers that 10-8 lead, but UNI would score 7-of-9 points to take a three-point lead at 15-12.
A Kira Givens kill and ensuing UNI error brought the Panthers within three, but UNI finished off the frame, 25-20.
O'Brien led the attack with six kills while Cameryn Jones added five in support. Jones also had 5.0 total blocks in the match to lead FIU.
Freshman setter Kaylee Musick dished out 12 assists and Mandi Morioka collected 10 digs.
Ohio State
The Panthers were defeated by the Buckeyes in three sets by scores of 25-22, 25-21 and 25-14.
FIU went toe-to-toe with Ohio State in the first two sets. A kill from Anna Feldkamp and OSU error to follow put the Panthers up 15-12 in the first set. After a Buckeye run to take the lead, back-to-back kills from Huckabey brought FIU with two at 22-20.
Ohio State was able to finish off set one, 25-22. In set two, FIU led 13-8 after Musick found Huckabey for a kill. The back-and-forth theme continued as OSU stormed back to go ahead by one, 17-16.
Huckabey tied it at 17-all with another kill, one of seven in the second set. Ohio State scored eight of the final twelve tallies to take set two, 25-21. The Buckeyes built an early advantage in set three and secured the match with a 25-14 win.
Huckabey's 16 kills paced the Panthers while O'Brien had eight. Feldkamp added five in the middle while counterpart Travel Morris had a team-high 4.0 blocks.
Kaylee Musick racked up 26 assists and added two service aces. Mandi Morioka had her second-straight double-digit dig effort with 10 digs.
UP NEXT
FIU will take on host-Dayton to conclude its opening weekend on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 1 p.m. ET.
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 Volleyball news. General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.
