MIAMI– In two polar opposite matches, FIU volleyball (8-4) defended home court in both, rolling to a sweep of Central Michigan (0-11) in the afternoon and grinding out a hard-fought five-setter over Alabama A&M (5-7) in the evening, extending their win streak to six - equaling their longest of last season.
Game 1: FIU 3, Central Michigan 0
FIU came out absolutely humming in the opening set, hitting .773 (17-0-22) and winning 25-9. It started with a 5-0 run and never looked back, extending the lead as far as 21-8 after a pair of
Marta Lazzarin service aces in a 5-0 run. Despite the Chippewas adding a point,
Tiyana Cisse slammed two kills and
Mariana Silva closed it with an ace.
While the opening percentage was always going to be unsustainable, FIU still hit .400 in the second frame. A couple Cisse kills gave FIU the early advantage, only ever trailing once at 10-9. A pair of
Marla Valentin markers made it 18-16, a lead the Panthers never relinquished, shutting it down on two
Jillian Huckabey kills and yet another closing ace for Silva.
Running ahead to an 11-6 lead on the wings of
Chiara Fabbrini, who went a perfect 9-0-9 in the game, FIU rolled in the third set once again.
Rayne Williams brought the Panthers to 15 first and kept the lead, with Cisse finishing off a 25-14 win and 3-0 sweep, their second-straight sweep and fifth-straight win.
Huckabey had the game-high with 11 kills, followed by Fabbrini (9) and Williams (7).
Ivona Lazovic had 18 assists, while both Lazzarin and Williams had three aces. The .442 hitting percentage was the team's fifth-highest in program history and highest since 9/2/11.
Game 2: FIU 3, Alabama A&M 2
The Panthers were once again led by Huckabey and Fabbrini in the evening match, but in a much different set of circumstances, being out-hit .145-.105 by Alabama A&M but still winning.
Huckabey got going early with two kills and some service pressure for the Panthers put them up 8-4. A late rally for the Bulldogs knotted it at 13, but FIU added two 3-0 runs to get back in front. Going up 23-17 on a Fabbrini kill, and two errors from Alabama A&M gave the Panthers a 25-18 win.
It was a hard-fought second set, but the Panthers hitting just .044 eventually caught up to them. Several ties and lead changes ensued, and Huckabey made it 24-23 with one last gasp of a kill, but it wasn't enough, falling 25-23.
Staving off a late charge from A&M, Silva nearly put the set to bed herself. A 6-0 run featuring four aces from the Brazilian setter, including three in a row, put FIU up 20-14. Hitting .292 with just 12 kills, FIU did enough to win it 25-20.
The Panthers did not find their footing until late in the fourth, and that did them in. Despite rallying back from down 15-9 after
Teodora Skocajic and Huckabey combined on a block to make it 18-all and then a brief lead, A&M found a timely 7-1 run to take it 25-20.
Another tooth-and-nail set followed, exemplifying the theme of the match. Three straight Lazzarin service aces made it 4-1, but that was quickly responded to. Up 12-6 on a Lazovic service run, the Panthers were nearly in control until, shockingly, Alabama A&M notched a 7-0 run to get to set point at 14-13. Digging deep, Huckabey delivered two kills and
Gina Fedrigo a solo block to claim an outstanding five-set win, despite hitting worse than their opponent.
Huckabey had 19 more kills and Fabbrini had 12, while
Lana Sesar muscled out 8. Silva had a career-best six aces, adding 14 assists, and
Ivona Lazovic had a stellar effort of 25 assists, 15 digs and five aces. Lazzarin led the way with another 20-dig effort.
FIU now has its longest win streak of the year at six.
Up Next
FIU will hope to have a perfect weekend and its longest winning streak since 2011 with a matchup against Jacksonville at 2:00 on Saturday.
Social Media
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