Friday, November 6, 2009

FIU's Volleyball team is in the midst of a Special Season


We are truly blessed as a community to have a team competing at such a high level in DIV I. The FIU Golden Panthers are on a tear with a 24-2 record. They have received the highest votes from the AVCA coaches poll "Top 25" ever. If you are a fan of great volleyball and you wish to witness first hand a great team in action; I highly recommend you make it to as many games as possible because the season is almost over and the team leaders: Yarimar Rosa #3, Olga Vergun #7 and Isadora Rangel #14 are seniors.



FIU is located right of the Florida Turnpike, there is no reason that folks from Broward County and North Miami Beach can not make it to these matches. The environment is great with 1,000 plus fans always in attendance at the U.S. Century Bank Arena that can hold much more.

There are only two home matches remaining:
Wednesday Nov. 11th vs. Florida Gulf Coast @ 6:30PM
Saturday Nov 28th vs. Florida A&M @ 1:00PM



This weekend will prove to be the toughest test yet as FIU travels to Sun Belt Conference nemesis Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee. Traditionally these two team have been the top teams in the conference since coach Danijela Tomic arrived @ FIU. Last years FIU team captured the conference title as all three teams (W.K. & MTSU) went to the NCAA Tournament.

I'm sure that both Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee are not very happy that there is a new Queen of the Mountain and will do everything possible to knock them off this weekend.

Scouting Western Kentucky: The Hilltoppers are 21-7 on the season and 10-3 in SBC play heading into the weekend and are riding a five-match win streak. Offensively, WKU is led by Jordyn Skinner (250 kills, 2.4 kps) and Lauren Stuckel (987 assists, 9.49 aps), while Brittany Bowen (90 blocks, 0.89 bps) and Sarah Rogers (392 digs, 3.77 dps) spearhead the Hilltopper defense. Lindsey Gould leads the squad in service aces with 43. The last time WKU and FIU met (Sept. 2), the Panthers came away with a 3-1 win at the U.S. Century Bank Arena behind a season-high 24 kills from senior Yarimar Rosa. Coutesy of FIU.com

Scouting Middle Tennessee: The Blue Raiders are 19-7 overall and 12-1 in SBC action, as MTSU brings a 10-match win streak into weekend action. The MTSU offense is led by Izabela Kozon (317 kills, 3.56 kps) and Leslie Clark (969 assists, 10.89 aps), while Janay Yancey (88 blocks, 1.06 bps) and Ashley Waugh (248 digs, 3.22 dps) lead the Blue Raider defense. Kozon leads the team in service aces with 30. The Blue Raiders' lone conference loss came at the hands of FIU on Oct. 4 by a 3-1 score at the U.S. Century Bank Arena. Rosa and Vergun led the Panthers with 19 and 15kills, respectively. Courtesy of FIU.com

Regardless of this weekends outcome The FIU team should go far if they stay hungry. Knowing coach Tomic she'll have this team ready to face adversity and to prevail.

University Round-Ups:

This weekend is shaping up to be a good weekend to visit your favorite team cheer your team to victory:

The University of Miami are fighting to establish themselves this year and will host Wake Forest tonight the 6th @ 7:00PM. They will then host ACC power house Duke University @ 1:00PM. If you wish to see the Duke match arrive early.

Nova Southeastern will host Fla. Tech this evening @ 7:00PM and Rollins College Saturday @ 4:00PM.

Barry University will host the same Div II teams in inverse order. Rollins this evening @ 7:00PM then Fla. Tech on Saturday @ 2:00PM.

We hope everyone has a great weekend cheering your favorite teams as the University season winds down.

1 comment:

Volleyball Drills said...

Volleyball Makes It 18 Straight With 3-1 Win Over WKU

The Panthers improve to 15-0 in conference play and 25-2 overall