YOUNGSVILLE, LA - No. 3 FIU will look to begin the Conference USA Beach Volleyball Tournament strong with a victory over No. 6 Missouri State on Thursday, April 24 at 12:30 p.m. ET. 

Date: Thursday, April 24

Time: 12:30 p.m. ET

Site: Youngsville Sports Complex at Sugar Beach

TV: Day one matches will not be televised, all matches on day 2 will be streamed on ESPN+

The double-elimination tournament will run from Thursday, April 24, through Saturday, April 26. All matches on Friday and Saturday will be streamed live on ESPN+, with the championship match scheduled for Saturday at 12 p.m. ET.

The winner between the Panthers and Bears will move on in the Winner's Bracket to face the victor of No. 2 Tulane and No. 7 Tarleton State, while a Panther loss sends FIU to the Contender's Bracket, where it will wait until Thursday night to await their matchup. The losers of the No. 8 Sam Houston State/No. 9 Jacksonville State matchup and the No. 2 Tulane/No. 7 Tarleton State matchup will go matchup on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. before playing the Panthers at 8:00 p.m. ET.

SEASON FACTS

FIU notched two wins over ranked opponents this season—the first against then-No. 14 Washington, followed by a victory over then-No. 12 Florida Atlantic.

Six Panthers have played in all 30 matches this season: Zoe Cahill, Ola Chudzik, Katarina Drozd, Brianna Luoma, Julia Panko, and Sofie Vogel.

Leading the way for FIU are sophomore Katarina Drozd and freshman Brianna Luoma, who boast a team-best 19-10 overall record as a pair. They've gone 5-2 on flight two, 7-4 on flight three, and 7-4 on flight four. The duo enters the postseason on a hot streak, winning eight of their last ten matches.

Drozd and Luoma also recorded the highest-scoring set in the NCAA this season, defeating then-No. 1 UCLA 39-37 in the second set on flight three (March 15, 2025).

Sophomore Ella Gray has competed in all 29 of her matches on flight one this season, primarily alongside senior Sofie Vogel. Together, they've tallied six wins.

Senior Zoe Cahill and junior Kendra Brown have partnered for 25 matches this season, posting a 12-13 overall record, including a 10-9 mark on court five.

BEACH BULLETS

The Panthers are chasing their first Conference USA title since joining the league in 2022. In last year's CUSA Beach Volleyball Tournament, FIU was eliminated by the eventual runners-up, the Tulane Green Wave.

FIU finished the season with a 3-2 record against CUSA opponents. They split their season series with both No. 1 Florida Atlantic (2-3, 3-2) and No. 2 Tulane (3-2, 0-5), and earned a 4-1 win over No. 4 UAB in their only meeting.

Florida Atlantic ended the regular season as the lone CUSA team ranked in the final AVCA Coaches Poll, landing at No. 17. Tulane narrowly missed the cut with 25 votes, while FIU also received votes after spending much of the season in the rankings, reaching as high as No. 14.

For the second straight season, FIU will open the CUSA tournament against Missouri State. The Panthers swept the Bears 3-0 in last year's matchup.

Head coach Terri Del Conte has deep ties across Conference USA. She played and began her coaching career at Missouri State, where she still ranks among the program's all-time leaders in several indoor volleyball categories. She also previously coached at UAB before taking the helm at FIU.

Should both FIU and Tulane win their opening-round matchups, the teams will meet in the first match of Day 2 at 9:30 a.m. ET. The winner will advance to the semifinals, scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on Friday, April 25. 

ROUND ONE - MISSOURI STATE
The Bears have had a good season, ending the 2025 campaign with a record of 17-8. MSU has played just one match against a CUSA opponent, falling to UAB, 2-3. Missouri State is also 0-2 against ranked opponents this season, losing 0-5 against then-No. 13 Grand Canyon and then-No. 2 TCU, however the Bears are 17-6 against unranked competiton. 

For more information and the full bracket, visit: https://conferenceusa.com/tournaments/?id=526&path=wbvball

SOCIAL MEDIA 

Get all the latest information on the team by following @FIUbeach on Instagram, or @FIUBeachVB on Twitter, and @FIUBeach on Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.