FIU volleyball team: Bjelica, Valentin Post Double-Doubles as FIU Sweeps ULM
MIAMI (Nov. 5, 2010) – On the strength of a pair of double-doubles by sophomore Jovana Bjelica and senior Natalia Valentin, the FIU volleyball team shut out Sun Belt Conference foe ULM, 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-14), on Friday night at the U.S. Century Bank Arena.
With the win, FIU improves to 14-10 (8-4 SBC) while ULM falls to 0-22 (0-13 SBC). FIU is now 5-1 at home in 2010 and the Panthers improve to 54-9 when playing on their home court since 2005.
In the first set, ULM took an 18-14 lead to start the match before a kill by junior Andrea Lakovic brought FIU to within three at 18-15. Lakovic struck again to make it 18-16 but the Warhawks retaliated with a score of their own to put the score at 19-16. A kill by Bjelica then came through the middle for a kill to put the score at 19-17 before Valentin combined with Lakovic for a block to bring the deficit to one at 19-18. Bjelica would then slam home two hard kills to give the Panthers a 20-19 advantage, forcing a ULM timeout.
Out of the break, it was Bjelica again from the left side with the kill, upping FIU’s advantage to 21-19. A violation on the Warhawks increased the Panthers’ lead to 22-19 and a kill by Lakovic put the score at 23-19. Following a ULM timeout, Lakovic posted another kill to bring FIU to set-point position at 24-19 before Bjelica scored on a pass from Valentin to give FIU a 25-19 set win and a 1-0 lead for the match.
The second set saw ULM jump out to a lead but FIU fought back to take an 18-17 advantage. The teams then traded service errors to put the score at 19-18 and Bjelica tallied a kill from the left side down the sideline to increase the Panthers’ advantage to 20-18. Bjelica posted another score to make it 21-18 before a Warhawk attack error put the score at 22-18. ULM would then tally two straight kills to make it 22-20 before a kill by freshman Briana Spruill made it 23-20, and a block by Spruill and freshman Una Trkulja brought FIU to set-point at 24-20.
Following a ULM timeout, a Panther service error kept the Warhawks alive, but a kill by Trkulja ended the set and gave FIU a 2-0 match lead, courtesy of a 25-21 set victory.
In the third stanza, FIU took a 12-5 lead and never looked back, extending its advantage to 10 at 19-9. ULM then made it 19-10 on a kill before a score by senior Ines Medved put the score at 20-10. Lakovic then tallied a solo block to make it 21-10 and ULM got the point back on a Panther service error, putting the score at 21-11.
The squads then traded points to make it 22-12 before a kill by Valentin put the score at 23-12. The Warhawks then recorded a kill and Bjelica came through from the left side to put FIU in match-point position at 24-13. ULM managed another point, but Bjelica posted the final kill, giving FIU a 25-14 set win and a 3-0 match victory.
Two Panthers notched double-digit kills on the night as Bjelica posted 18 kills and Lakovic chipped in with 15 kills, en route to a career-high hitting percentage of .545. Bjelica recorded her second double-double of the season by also contributing 11 kills, while Valentin picked up her 13th double-double of the campaign on the strength of 42 assists and 11 digs.
Defensively, Spruill posted a team-high three blocks while Lakovic, Trkulja and Valentin each recorded a pair of blocks versus the Warhawks.
As a team, FIU hit a clip of .362 to mark a season-high while ULM notched an attack percentage of .143 on the night. FIU out-blocked ULM, 6-3, and the Panthers also won the digs battle, 53-37, and the assists battle, 48-20.
FIU returns to action on Sunday afternoon when the Panthers take on Louisiana at 1 p.m. at the U.S. Century Bank Arena. Live stats and live video streaming will be available at www.fiusports.com and fans can follow @FIUVolleyball on Twitter for live updates.
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