By: Eduardo Almaguer / Stafff Writer
On Friday night, the Golden Panthers were disappointed with how close they were to losing a game that should have been theirs in three sets.
This time, they made sure to hold onto the third set.
FIU (6-3, 0-0 SBC) defeated Florida A&M (0-8, 0-0 MEAC) for its third-straight win in three-straight sets (25-10, 25-23, 26-24) on the heels of junior Jovana Bjelica’s fourth double-double of the season and redshirt freshman Renele Forde’s newfound defense. Forde recorded the first double-double of her career, notching 20 assists and 10 digs.
“I had a really tough game defensively last game and I came out here with my main focus being dig more balls,” said Forde.
“Defense is a matter of discipline,” added Head Coach Danijela Tomic. “Today she stayed in her zones and read everything better.”
The Panthers outplayed FAMU in almost every category, including blocks, digs, kills and assists.
FIU wasted no time steamrolling through the Rattlers, jumping out to an 11-4 lead in the first set. FIU did not let the lead grow smaller than five points as Bjelica unleashed a barrage of kills on the Rattlers that was too much for them to handle. The Panthers widened the lead to 11 as not a word came from the Rattlers side of the net; their lack of communication, something that plagued the Panthers on Friday, severely handicapped the team. Meanwhile, the Panthers roared to a 25-10 win with a service ace from Forde.
“Our serving game was very strong [in the first set],” said Tomic. “It allowed us to put pressure on the other team.”
The teams began the second set battling back and forth as they exchanged blows until the score was knotted, 9-9. A FAMU error gave the Panthers a 10-9 lead. This dictated the tone for the rest of the set, as FIU could not create a lead bigger than four. The Rattlers, however, slowly gnawed away at the lead.
Things got tight when FAMU tied it, 23-23, and exploited hole on the Panther’s side of the net. For the Rattlers, however, the buck stopped there. Seniors Sabrina Gonzalez and Andrea Lakovic rocketed two straight kills to cap the set win and give FIU a 2-0 match lead.
The Panthers found themselves in a hole to begin the third set. An inability to answer FAMU’s hits resulted in a five-point deficit. FIU tried mounting several comebacks but the Rattlers were quick in shutting down any momentum.
As thoughts of Friday night’s near-meltdown raced across the Panther’s head, they decided that the bleeding would stop here. The team scored four-straight points capped by freshman Silvia Carli’s first-career service ace. Bjelica then decided to steal the spotlight.
“I don’t have that fear at the end,” said Bjelica. “I have a bigger urge to score the points in the end than at the beginning. I’m not afraid.”
Fearless she was as she masterfully dominated the court with FIU’s next five points and ultimately gave them a huge comeback win for the game victory.
“We always seem to play better when we’re in a tight spot,” said Forde. “We definitely need to change that because it’s harder to come back from behind.”
“It matters how you lose and it matters how you win,” added Tomic. “When our opponent raises the level of their game, we need to step up and do the same.”
The Panthers will attempt to raise their game to another level when they face off against Jacksonville and either UCF or UTEP on Sept. 16 and 17 in the UCF Challenge.
About Post Author
