After a weekend where they did not win a single set against Middle Tennessee or Western Kentucky, the FIU volleyball squad had a mandatory team meeting on Tuesday where Tomic put her team on the map and told them where they were.
WKU (17-2, 7-1 SBC) absolutely clobbered FIU en route to a 3-0 win (25-19, 25-10, 25-13) and the Panthers dropped their second match of the weekend on Oct. 16 to the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (11-9, 8-1 SBC), losing in three straight sets (25-23, 25-21, 25-16)
Volleyball has already reached the mid-point of the season. Dreams of becoming a champion are either coming to fruition or are fizzling out. The Golden Panthers are at a fork in the road and it is time to choose the correct path.
It appeared as if the dark clouds that hung over the Panther volleyball team two weeks ago after losses to Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky had vanished, blown away by a dominant sweep of FAU on Oct.7. Then came Monday.
After an embarrassing loss on Oct. 2 at the hands of Middle Tennessee that left the team without a single set win all weekend, head coach Danijela Tomic declared she was going to cancel the next practice. She kept her word.
The Blue Raiders (5-9, 3-1 SBC) clobbered FIU in three straight sets (25-20, 25-12, 25-18) to deny the Panthers a single set win all weekend.
Although women’s basketball has won conference championships, baseball has made NCAA tournament appearances, football won their first bowl game last season, volleyball has been the catalyst for success for the University.
The Panthers first loss in almost a month snapped their season-high seven-game win streak. WKU extended theirs to 13 games.
FIU will retire Yarimar Rosa’s jersey as a way to say “thank you” for the excellence she brought the program, on and off the court.
The Panthers overcame some early game mishaps to overpower the Pioneers (4-10, 1-1 SBC) and storm the match to a 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-20, 25-19) triumph.