The FIU volleyball team was in action at the Jayhawk Invitational on Friday night, as the Panthers came away with a hard-fought 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-22) win over host Kansas at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. All this without talented outside hitter Yarimar Rosa.
FIU is now 4-1 on the season, while Kansas falls to 3-2. With the win, the Panthers tie the all-time series with the Jayhawks, 1-1. Kansas is always a nationally ranked team. For FIU to go into their arena in their tournament and to walk away with such a convincing victory could set a powerful tone for the season.
Kansas jumped out to a 4-0 lead but FIU battled back to go ahead, 11-9. Freshman Chanel Araujo later gave the Panthers another two-point advantage at 14-12 as she slammed home a service ace, but the Jayhawks then scored twice to tie the score at 14-14.
The two squads traded leads for the rest of the set and Kansas went up 24-22 before sophomore Sabrina Gonzalez came through with a kill on an assist from junior Natalia Valentin to bring FIU within one. The Jayhawks answered with a kill of their own, however, to take the set by a score of 25-23 and go up 1-0 for the match.
The second set saw 10 ties and four lead changes, as both teams battled back and forth. With the score tied at 22-22, Paige Mazour put Kansas on top by one with a kill, but FIU bounced back and secured the final three points of the set for the 25-23 win.
The Panthers came out strong in the third set, pulling ahead, 7-2. Kansas fought back to a 10-10 tie, but FIU kept steady, never giving up the lead. The Jayhawks got within two at 23-21 before Valentin connected with Gonzalez for a kill to give the Panthers a 24-21 advantage. Kansas struck again to cut the lead to two, but FIU would prevail and take the 25-22 win to go ahead 2-1 for the match.
FIU opened the fourth set with a kill from freshman Jovana Bjelica, who converted on an assist from Valentin in her first ever collegiate start. Twelve ties and six lead changes highlighted the set, as Bjelica and senior Olga Vergun each tallied five kills while sophomore Andrea Lakovic added four for the set.
The Jayhawks held a 22-21 advantage before Vergun tallied a kill (assisted by Valentin) to put the score at 22-22 for the final tie of the match. The Panthers then tallied three straight points to secure the 25-22 win, which gave FIU a 3-1 victory over Kansas.
The Panther attack unit had three players with double-digit kills for the second time today, as Bjelica led FIU with career-bests of 13 kills and 14 digs, while Vergun added 11 kills, four digs, a pair of assists and one block. Senior Isadora Rangel tallied 10 kills on the night to go along with seven digs, two assists and one block.
Defensively, Lakovic secured a season-high six blocks and Araujo picked up 19 digs while adding FIU's only service ace of the evening. Valentin had 11 digs for the night and added a team-best 33 assists.
Always be sure to visit the FIU website to stay in touch with the Golden Panthers.
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