Box Score MURFREESBORO, Tenn.– FIU volleyball (10-9, 1-5 CUSA) struggled to find its form in a three-set loss at Middle Tennessee (14-4, 5-1) on Saturday at Alumni Memorial Gymnasium.

The first set was back-and-forth for a while as the Panthers made it close several times, but never found a sustained run to overtake MTSU. The Panthers cut the deficit to one twice, once at 14-13 on a Jillian Huckabey kill and once at 16-15 on an Ivona Lazovic ace, but ultimately fell victim to a late 6-1 run and lost it 25-18.

The second set was much more in favor of the Panthers late, but the team once again could not find that set clincher. Going up 19-13 after a Teodora Skocajic kill, FIU got it all the way to set point three different times but did not close it out. Chiara Fabbrini made it 24-22 Panthers but the Blue Raiders tied it, Kamryn Itzen slammed a kill to make it 25-24 only for a response by the home team, and an attack error for MTSU made it 28-27, only for the Blue Raiders to rattle off three straight points for the win, a marathon 30-28 victory.

FIU had the wind come out of its sails after failing to close out the third, falling behind 15-7 by the first media and struggling to string points together. Middle Tennessee claimed the set 25-10 and the match 3-0 as the Panthers lost their fifth conference match in six tries.

Huckabey was the standout with 17 kills, hitting .385, and Mariana Silva led the Panthers in assists for the first time this season with a season-high 20 in the match.

Up Next
The Panthers return home to play Liberty in a two-game set beginning on Oct. 16.

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