Bjelica, Egan propel late surge for Panthers

By: Eduardo Almaguer / Staff Writer

This is not the team you knew one month ago.

This is not the team that had its practice cancelled because of lack of effort. This is not the team that lost four of five games in early October to Sun Belt Conference leaders Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky.

This is now the team that will be damned if they do not end the season on an 11-game winning streak.

Over the past two weeks, the Panthers (16-7, 8-4 SBC) may have discovered the perfect lineup, which has led to five consecutive wins for the squad and has raised expectations to win the remaining six games of the season. The streak is the longest since they won seven in a row from Sept. 4 –Sept. 25.

What has been the key to their recent success? Redshirt freshman setter Jessica Egan.

With Egan now fully entrenched in the setter position, a spot she did not have to begin the season, she has begun to spread the ball among her offense more during games. Senior Andrea Lakovic pointed out that when Egan was handed the setter role earlier in the season, she only trusted, that is, gave the majority of the sets to junior outside hitter Jovana Bjelica.

“Now, she’s trusting everyone on the team,” said Lakovic.

This is a far cry from the days when Bjelica  led her squad in kills and the nearest teammate was 15 kills behind. This newfound strategy of spreading the ball led to FIU’s two most recent victories. The match against South Alabama saw four Panthers exceed or match eight kills. One week ago against Troy, three Panthers matched or exceeded 14 kills.

“My job is to serve my team. That’s what I do,” said Egan. “I’m supposed to make an impact on the girls. To hear that it’s working means a lot.”

DÉJÀ VU

Bjelica received her second consecutive SBC Player of the Week award after another series of stellar outings. This marks the fourth time she has received the award this season, as she is the only player in the conference with that many awards. She posted 51 kills against FAU, Troy and USA to pad her conference-leading 362 kills. Her elite 4.47 kills per set mark ranks 17th in the nation. CVU.com also named her a Top Performer for the second consecutive week.

Bjelica, however, still believes she is not performing at her best.

“I’m doing worse than what I should be doing. Sometimes I expect even more than this,” said Bjelica. “I have goals but my goals weren’t that I have to win [SBC Player of the Week]. My goal is to play the best I can and be a leader on the court. I’m doing worse than what I should be doing.”

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

For the first time since Oct. 16, FIU will play a game on the road. Their first game takes place in Monroe, La. against ULM (9-13, 3-9 SBC). The Panthers then travel 160 miles south to Lafayette, La. to face Louisiana-Lafayette (11-17, 3-9 SBC) on Nov. 6. Both matches, while deemed must wins for the team, are not being overlooked.

“We always respect the opponent,” said Lakovic. “We just try to focus on the little things on our side of the net.”

Egan welcomes the atmosphere that traveling on the road brings.

“We’ve been playing games at home a lot and we’ve been getting complacent,” said Egan. “When you get on the road it’s like a challenge. I love that.”