Finding their footing: volleyball’s growth throughout their season

Will Duval | Sports Director

The FIU volleyball team finished off their season by getting eliminated in the semifinals of Conference USA Championship tournament on Nov. 18, 2023 in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Prior to their playoff run, they finished the regular season with a 13-17 record and notched their highest number of wins since 2018. They ended that season with a 19-12 overall record and only lost one home game throughout the entire season.

In a similar fashion to 2018, the Panthers’ play at home provided them with a majority of their wins this year. At home, they held a 7-4 record, whereas they went 3-9 in away games and 3-6 in neutral territory games.

To start the season, their record stood at 2-8 after going on a five-game losing streak. While starting slowly, they didn’t dig themselves into any deeper of a hole after that point, as it marked their largest losing streak of the season.

Over their next eight games, they only lost one game and matched their cold stretch with a five-game win streak. This evened up their record at 9-9 on the season and brought them back to the .500 record marker.

Beyond improving their season record, FIU’s win streak came strictly against CUSA opponents. Due to the timing, they were able to start off with a 5-0 record in conference play.

Both their largest winning streak and losing streak came within three games of each other. For the remainder of the season, the story remained the same on a smaller scale.

From game to game, they struggled to find consistency in what they excelled at. Against certain opponents, they had a potent two-way attack, while in other games they struggled to keep pace with high-speed offenses.

When all put together, it culminated into a 13-17 record, as they went 4-8 over their final 12 games of the season.

Despite having more losses than wins, their perfect start against conference opponents essentially granted them a spot in the CUSA Championship tournament. 

However, the Panthers finished their season with an 8-8 conference record and couldn’t maintain their previously established momentum. They entered the tournament as the sixth seed and took on the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders as their first round opponent.

MTSU finished their season with a 20-8 record and a 11-5 record against conference opponents. In their final two games of the season, they took back-to-back losses against the Western Kentucky Lady Toppers, who were ranked No. 23 in the nation.

FIU took four consecutive losses to end their season and were searching for a win to end their season on a high note. 

Getting exactly what they were looking for, they managed to upset the higher seed in the tournament and take a 3-2 win over the Blue Raiders. In a closely contested match, neither team allowed each other a significant advantage statistically.

Slightly outscoring their opponent, the Panthers scored 72 points and allowed 71 in the game. Beyond the one-point margin, both teams matched each other with eight aces and 47 digs on the night.

Individually, graduate student outside hitter Syra Tanchin tallied 17 kills and finished with the most kills between the two teams.

Senior opposite hitter Yasso Amin made an impact by collecting six of FIU’s eight total aces in the game. Able to significantly contribute in other statistical categories, she also tallied 12 kills and five blocks that night.

Narrowly squeezing away with a 3-2 victory, FIU upset the third seed in the tournament and moved on to the semifinals. 

In the second round of the tournament, they took on the New Mexico State Aggies and couldn’t match their efforts from the previous game.

NMSU ended their regular season by taking back-to-back wins over the Panthers and swept the season series 2-0. The wins pushed their season record to 19-9 and awarded them the second seed in the CUSA Championship tournament.

As in the regular season, FIU struggled to keep up with the scoring and efficiency of their opponent. They held a 12.7% hitting percentage and allowed the Aggies a 40.2% hitting percentage.

Defensively, the NMSU limited any opportunity that the opposing team found to score. They accumulated 14 blocks and 44 digs, whereas the Panthers finished with four blocks and 30 digs.

Unable to match their opponent, FIU fell 3-1 and was eliminated from the CUSA Championship tournament.

While they couldn’t leave the tournament with a championship, they still managed to upset a higher seed in the first round. Beyond their postseason success, they improved upon the previous five years of program history and collected 13 wins this season.

With a strong body of work from this season, the FIU volleyball team has laid down their foundation for the future.

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