The Golden Panthers (2-0, SBC 0-0) overpowered UC Riverside (0-2, 0-0 BWC) to capture its second victory in as many days in another straight-set sweep (25-20, 25-15, 25-20).
Outside hitter Jovana Bjelica posted the team’s first double-double of the season, notching 14 kills and 10 digs. Andrea Lakovic, outside hitter, posted a season-best seven blocks and libero Chanel Araujo tallied a season-best 15 digs for the defense.
Head coach Danijela Tomic gave almost all of the playing time in the setter position to redshirt junior Renele Forde, who posted a career-best 32 assists.
Tomic said she still hasn’t made up her mind about a primary setter. She’ll continue to deploy a timeshare between Egan and Forde.
“We have two setters that can step in and do a great job,” Tomic said. “It’s a great problem to have.”
FIU quickly found itself in a hole against the Highlanders, falling behind 0-3 when the first set started. After seeing UCR score three straight, Egan was then replaced by Forde. The teams exchanged 4-0 runs until the score was 20-19 in FIU’s favor. Bjelica, en route to her double-double, sealed the deal with a kill to win 25-20.
The second set started and on the heels of a pair of Forde aces, two kills from Lakovic and a kill from middle blocker Sabrina Gonzalez and they took the lead 6-5. There was no turning back as FIU built a 10-point lead with the set point at 24-14. Outside hitter Marija Prsa tallied a kill to take the second set.
The final set saw a back-and-forth battle to knot the score at 10-10. Bjelica and Gonzalez broke the tie and the team would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the match. Similar to night before, FIU won the match point on an error by the opposing team to win the set 25-20 and complete the sweep.
UC Berkley 3, FIU 0
FIU (2-1, SBC 0-0), accustomed to playing the role of Goliath in the first two matches, reversed roles to David as the Golden Panthers dropped the match in three straight sets against No. 3 UC Berkeley (3-0, Pac-12 0-0) and their impermeable defense, (25-23, 25-16, 25-15).
Gonzalez posted a season-best nine kills and four blocks. Araujo spearheaded the defense with 12 digs and Forde, who seems to have convinced Tomic that she is the best option for the setter position, had 28 assists.
The first set saw a lightning-fast seesaw battle where no team could pull away. An impenetrable defense and a 7-2 run by Berkeley gave them a 20-14 lead. FIU battled back and came within one point at a score of 23-24. A kill from Correy Johnson, however, handed FIU its first set-loss of the season.
In the second set, FIU battled from behind for the entirety of the match. On the losing end of a 7-14 score, FIU rallied for with a 4-0 run. The team would only score five more points as the Bears took set two, 25-16.
The Golden Panthers opened the third set in the same fashion as the second set: in a deficit. After being down 8-11, the team never shortened the gap, eventually losing 15-25.
Though a coach is never pleased when her team loses, Tomic was extremely satisfied with the effort her Panthers gave against Berkeley.
“The score doesn’t show how hard we played.” Tomic said. “ Defensively, we played extremely good. That’s something we wanted to get better in and we showed it.”