Panthers face adversity as they come into their own

Egan’s Rise

Jessica Egan has been the story for this FIU volleyball team recently. The redshirt junior from Germantown, MD., has seamlessly transitioned to the setter position and really changed around what this team can get done both offensively and defensively.

Standing at 6-foot-2, she is a taller setter than freshman Anabela Sataric or sophomore Ashlee Hodgskin, the two players who had been splitting time at the setter position before the team made the move to Egan as the dominant setter.

“She has amazing court vision,” said senior Kim Smith. “we have great chemistry together and she is a very intelligent player. With the ability to set it right to our hands; as a hitter that makes everything so much easier because we know we don’t have to worry about a bad set from her.”

As one of the best blocking team in Conference USA, the added height to the lineup only helps their cause and adds even more blocks. With 52 assists in just the last two games, Jessica Egan is showing why she will be the setter for this team come post season play.

Blocking their way to success

Currently ranked second in the conference in total blocks as a team, the Panthers are beginning to show their grit on defense. With over 67 blocks for the season, and averaging over 3.5 blocks per set, the Panthers are looking to make their mark on this season as most great champions do, with their defense. Currently ranked fourth and fifth in blocks in C-USA, respectively, senior Cece Spencer (32) and senior Kim Smith (29) have led this effort for FIU this season.

“We have played all top teams in the conference, NCAA tournament bound teams, and we are moving along. We have found our groove and our identity as a huge blocking team which we will focus on more and get better at still,” Head Coach Rita Buck-Crockett said.

Internal Struggles

At some point during the season, even athletes can get irritated or bothered with each other. They are humans just like us and make mistakes like anyone else.

Last week, a day before their rivals, Florida Atlantic University, came to our campus for a match there was a dispute between two players on the team.

About halfway through practice a dispute broke out between redshirt junior Ksenia Ksukhareva and junior Sylvia Carli. The two were separated from the rest of the team and spoke with Buck-Crockett for a brief period of time before the team met as a whole on the middle of the court.

Both individuals haven’t played since and the team has been unavailable for comment.

Ksukhareva was billed as the go to offensive player for the Panthers before the season started, and to anyone that watches her play, its obvious she possesses a lot of talent and versatility at multiple different positions on the court, but that hasn’t been the problem for the Russian this season. Easily flustered throughout games when she makes mistakes, teams have been able to key in on her terrible body language and attitude when she is mentally distracted and that has caused to her underperform.

On a team loaded with talent at the outside hitter position, it could be a while before we see Sukhareva take the court. And when the coach is a former Olympian who is known not to deal with nonsense, she is going to have to find that resolve and fortitude a player with her talent needs to execute properly and help a team win.