Photo by Sergio Naser
By: Rico Albarracin / Asst. Sports Director
There are games that teams will get “hyped up” for, the level of intensity that is needed to match and defeat an opponent of an equal playing level. Then, there are days where the intense feeling just isn’t there and you are stuck in a daze. The Golden Panthers were stuck in a trance, but luckily it did not affect the outcome of the game.
FIU defeated South Alabama at U.S. Century Bank Arena in a straight set sweep 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-20) on Oct. 30. With the win, the Golden Panthers inch closer to a possible third seed in the Sun Belt Conference tournament, as they stand at 16-7 (8-4 SBC) while South Alabama falls to 8-15 (3-8 SBC). Although a win is a win, head coach Danijela Tomic was not really impressed.
“I’m glad we won,” Tomic said. “I felt that our intensity wasn’t there. We need to play with a sense of urgency.”
Tomic was not the only person who shared the sentiment.
“We didn’t play with much intensity,” freshman setter Jessica Egan said. “It’s hard to get up for every single game. It just shows how we can win games.”
Junior outside hitter Jovana Bjelica led the Golden Panthers with 20 kills while senior middle blocker Sabrina Gonzalez added 10 kills. As a team, FIU hit for .404 while holding the Jaguars to an attacking percentage of .246.
Egan led all players with 45 assists and tied for the team lead in service aces with junior Marija Prsa, as they both gained one each. Defensively, Prsa posted 14 digs while Egan led FIU career-high four blocks.
The Golden Panthers pushed the Jaguars, but South Alabama did not back down. Down by two, early in the first set, the Jaguars went on a 4-0 run to take an early set lead 9-7. South Alabama was able to penetrate the Golden Panther defense as both teams traded points throughout the first set. Olivia Mohler and Maureen Ros led the Jaguars’ offensive threat, but FIU was not deterred, as Bjelica led a comeback to give the Golden Panthers the lead at set point looming. It was a Bjelica kill that granted FIU the first set win, 25-23.
In the second set, FIU took a 17-14 lead with kills by senior middle blocker Andrea Lakovic and Prsa. Prsa and Lakovic combined for a block to bring the score to 20-15 and the teams traded points to make it 23-17. Bjelica came through with a kill for the final point of the set as FIU took a 25-20 set win and a 2-0 match lead.
The third set saw the Panthers take a three-point lead at 18-15. The teams traded points before a kill by Bjelica put FIU’s lead at 21-18. The teams traded points to put the score at 23-19 before a Jaguar kill made it 23-20. Egan then passed to freshman Silvia Carli for a kill to bring up the match point to 24-20, and a final score by Lakovic from the right side gave FIU a 25-20 set-win and a 3-0 match victory.
With five games left in the season, the focus of the team is on the SBC tournament.
“Every opponent we have from here on out is a practice for the [conference] tournament,” Bjelica said.
When asked on the possibility of going undefeated, Bjelica was adamant. “Yes, we will.”
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