Egan earns double-double in FIU win over Troy

Photo by Sergio Naser

Photo by Sergio Naser

By: Eduardo Almaguer / Staff Writer 

Jovana Bjelica, the star outside hitter for the Panthers, is used to being the one player the team can count on to deliver in clutch moments. An Iron (Wo)Man, if you will.

On Oct. 28, Iron Woman brought her friends, the Avengers, to save the game.

On the heels of three Panther double-double performances, FIU beat Troy 3-1, (25-17, 25-21, 23-25, 25-18) and extended their winning streak to four games. With the win, FIU remains perfect against Troy (14-10, 4-6 SBC), having won all 12 games against their program.

Bejlica notched her team-leading eighth double-double of the season with 21 kills and 12 digs. Junior outside hitter Marija Prsa broke out of her recent slump with her third double-double of the season. She had tallied 14 kills and digs, as well as a team-high .393 hitting percentage. Redshirt freshman Jessica Egan achieved her first career double-double with 46 assists and 12 digs.

“The chemistry was really good tonight,” said senior Andrea Lakovic.

As the first set kicked off, FIU (15-7, 7-4 SBC) took a 10-9 lead on a kill by Lakovic. Egan, according to head coach Danijela Tomic, was doing an excellent job spreading the ball between all the players.

“We cannot rely only on Jovana,” said Tomic. “For a team to be a strong team, we need other players to step up and do better.”

The Panthers held on tightly to the lead, not once flinching when the Trojans would rattle off a string of kills to cut the deficit.

Lakovic, en route to a .500 hitting percentage in the first set, slammed down another kill to make it 18-15. FIU tallied four consecutive points after that to widen the gap to 22-15. Bjelica shut the door with a missile to end the first set, 25-17.

As the second set opened, FIU carried over their momentum from the first set and sliced up the Trojan defense to lead 8-4. The Trojans could not answer the wall that the Panthers would put up every time Troy tried sending a ball over the net.

With the score 16-11, however, Troy started finding chinks in the Panthers’ armor. They drew to within one point, 17-16, which then prompted Lakovic to spin back-to-back kills as the crowd roared after the ball found holes in the Trojan defense.

Prsa tallied her fifth kill of the set to win it, 25-21.

“She’s finally getting her tempo and getting her game back,” said Lakovic of Prsa.

Unlike the first two sets, Troy came out battling, exchanging blows over and over again with FIU. It was not until the Panthers took a 20-17 lead that either team had built a three-point lead. The teams traded points to make it 21-18, and the crowd could smell a win.

All of sudden, the Panthers collapsed.

Troy shut down the FIU offense and took a commanding 23-22 lead that silenced the crowd. Though FIU tied it in the very next play, they lost 25-23.

“We underestimated the opponent a little bit,” said Bjelica. “We like drama, what can I say?”

“We didn’t deserve to win that third set,” added Tomic. “In the locker room we told them to play better and they didn’t listen.”

FIU opened up a 9-3 lead in the fourth set, but the Trojans tore it down to eventually tie the set 12-12. But once FIU took a 16-14 lead, they did not look back. They ravaged the Trojans and scored five of the last six points of the game, the match point coming on a Trojan attack error.

“All I want to do is beat [our conference opponents] and send a message to Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee,” said Lakovic.

About Post Author