MIAMI – No. 20 FIU finishes the Panther Beach Bash at Pompano Beach with a 3-1 record, gaining victories over Palm Beach State, Tulane and FGCU.

Day One

FIU began their home meet against JUCO Palm Beach State, beating the Panthers (PBSC is also called the Panthers), 5-0*. Julia Panko and Arianna Franklin started off the winning on court four, cruising to 21-9 and 21-16 victories. Ola Chudzik and Maria Vinatea Sanchez continued on court two with a straight set victory of their own (21-11 and 21-15). Zoe Cahill and Kendra Brown piled on with two 21-12 wins on court five, while Katarina Drozd and Brianna Luoma won on court three, 21-8 and 21-11. Ella Gray and Sofie Vogel finished off Palm Beach State on court one in three sets, winning 21-11 before dropping set two, and fighting to a 15-13 victory to win in the third set.

 

In the Panthers' second match of the day, the host school battled to a 3-2 win over Tulane. Katarina Drozd and Brianna Luoma won their second match of the day, this time as FIU's second flight. The pair dropped their first set before winning sets two and three, 21-17 and 15-13, earning the first point of the match for the Panthers. FIU took a 2-1 lead thanks to Kendra Brown and Zoe Cahill on court five, winning in straights sets (21-19 and 21-19). After Tulane tied the match up at two, Ola Chudzik and Maria Vinatea Sanchez gritted their way to a victory on flight three, winning the first set 21-19 before dropping set two, and bouncing back to win 15-9 in set three and gain the conference victory for the Panthers.

 

Day Two

FIU and Tulane matched up again in their first match of day two, with Tulane besting the Panthers, 5-0.

The final match of the Beach Bash proved to be a hard fought battle that came down to the last match, resulting in a 3-2 FIU victory. On flight four, Katarina Drozd and Brianna Luoma earned the Panthers' first point with 21-16 and 21-17 wins in straight sets, putting FIU up, 1-0. After the Eagles took a 2-1 lead, Katarina Drozd and Brianna Luoma tied it back up with a victory in straight sets on court three (21-15 and 21-16). Ella Gray and Sofie Vogel finished it off on court one, fighting to a win in three sets. The pair won 21-16 in set one before dropping set two, and fighting to a 15-12 win in set three to clinch the match for FIU.

 

*FIU's victory over Palm Beach State is counted as a scrimmage and will not show up on the overall record, as Palm Beach State is a two-year school.

UP NEXT

The Panthers will have one more meet before the CUSA Tournament, travelling to Washington to and taking part in the Husky Invitational where they will play Oregon and Long Beach State on day one, before playing Washing and Long Beach State again on day two.

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