Golden Eagles Set For Sunshine State Battle
10/20/2018 12:19:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Miami, Fla. - Spending homecoming weekend away from Southern Miss isn't always ideal, but luckily the Southern Miss volleyball team is doing so on the beach in the sunshine state. The Golden Eagles, after falling in four sets to FAU on Friday night, are set to battle Florida International Sunday afternoon.Â
The last time outÂ
On Friday night, Southern Miss fell in four sets to Florida Atlantic in what turned out to be a close battle. The Owls jumped out early en route to taking a two-set lead. The Golden Eagles bounced back to win the third set and nearly forced a fifth set in a closely contested fourth frame. Kylie Grandy dropped a game-high 21 kills with a .259 hitting percentage.Â
Sarah Bell added 53 assists, three kills, two blocks and a service ace. Alexis Coombs and Catherine Repsher added 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Coombs, Repsher, and Ashley Berry all recorded four blocks to up the Southern Miss total to eight total blocks. Sophomore Madison Lawler picked up 15 digs to go along with Kellie Garraway's eight.Â
Scouting FIU
The Panthers enter the contest with a 13-7 record and 5-2 mark in C-USA play. Last weekend, FIU fell to UTSA in five sets and then dropped UTEP in another five-setter. Margherita Bianchin leads the charge with 265 kills with a .257 hitting percentage. Bianchin, a senior, also has 22 service aces and 51 blocks. Chelsea Hudson, a 6-foot-2 redshirt junior, leads the Panthers with 68 total blocks. Lina Bernier leads the way with 396 digs and Abbie Hughes has a team-high 667 assists.Â
What's at stakeÂ
The two teams are knotted at three in the all-time series and Southern Miss has won the last three meetings dating back to 2014. In the C-USA standings, FAU sits in fourth place while Southern Miss sits behind a tie for fifth place. A win would give the Golden Eagles a winning record.Â
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To stream the game:Â https://bit.ly/2NRYLje
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