By: Eduardo Almaguer / Staff Writer
Head coach Danijela Tomic had one goal for the team’s Sept. 9 game—to show the crowd just how exciting the Golden Panthers can be.
The team did not disappoint.
In a nail biting match, FIU (5-3, 0-0 SBC) overcame defensive woes and miscommunication to beat Tulane (3-4, 0-0 C-USA) in five sets (27-25, 25-22, 21-25, 23-25, 15-7).
Junior Jovana Bjelica spearheaded the offense with 18 kills and four service aces, a career high. Senior Sabrina Gonzalez led the shaky defense with six blocks and libero Chanel Araujo recorded 17 digs.
With the energy of the home crowd behind them, FIU opened the first set to a back and forth battle with Tulane. The Green Wave, however, wasted no time in exploiting the Panther’s defense and pulling ahead 9-12. A Panther timeout seemed to have done the trick: the home team roared back to regain the lead.
With the Panthers a single point away from winning, the crowd was left holding their breath as Tulane scored five straight points to capture the lead. Losing, however, was not in FIU’s plan. A kill by Bjelica gave the team the win and allowed the arena to breathe easier.
Though the Panthers never gave up an early lead, Tulane’s defense struggled to prevent them from creating a bigger one. In spite of that, FIU scored the points when it mattered. The Green Wave’s service error and their inability to tie the game led to the FIU set victory 25-22 and the match lead 2-0.
While the Panthers may have found themselves scoring the majority of their points, a deficit in the third set, due to a lack of communication, proved fatal to the team.
“Compared to how we can play, we played badly,” said Bjelica. “We gave them the sets. It’s our fault.”
After falling behind by three points, 20-23, the Panthers could not mount another comeback as the Green Waves won the set 25-21.
“We got too comfortable,” said Gonzalez. “We didn’t have our energy, we stopped talking, and we started making more errors. We felt like they were going to give us the last set.”
In an almost identical replay of the third set, the Panthers were once again battling from behind to open the fourth set. Raising their green-and-white brick wall defense, Tulane shut down any Panther offense to prevent a comeback. Down 16-20, Tomic called a timeout to regroup the team.
The team, along with the arena, roared back to life to within one point, 23-24. The Green Wave ultimately shut the door with a cannon-like kill off Renele Forde to win the set and tie the match.
With their tradition of home excellence on the line, the Panthers waged a battle of tug and war to open the final set of the night. The Panthers managed to build a three point lead on Bjelica’s fourth service ace of the night. They widened the gap to five points with a rocket from Senior Andrea Lakovic to score a point and make it 11-6. With momentum now on their side, the Panthers sealed the victory and broke through the Green Wave wall to win 15-7 and take the match 3-2.
Tomic knows that while this may not have the most ideal win, it is part of the growing pains every season brings.
“You have to be tested in matches like this,” Tomic said. ”In the end I told them I was proud of the win. To become a championship team, you have to go through the struggles.”
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