Volleyball Takes on FIU Panthers Sunday in the Cam

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall volleyball team returns to action on Sunday against the FIU Panthers at 1 p.m. in the Cam Henderson Center.

The Thundering Herd is 10-4 overall and 1-0 in Conference USA action. The Panthers come in at 7-5 overall and 0-1 in conference.

Match Details
Live Stats: SIDEARM
Live Video: HERDVISION/CUSAtv with Jake Griffith on the call.
Marshall Radio: 88.1 WMUL-FM & online www.marshall.edu/wmul.
Series History: 10th all-time meeting, Marshall leads 6-3
Last Meeting: November 4, 2018 in Huntington – FIU won 3-0

Marshall is coming off a sweep over Southern Miss in its home-opener Friday night. The Herd spent the first four weeks, and 13 matches of the year, on the road and the team was finally able to play on its home floor. A crowd of almost 800 watched Marshall dominate the Golden Eagles to begin Conference USA play 1-0.

First-year head coach Ari Aganus was honored before the match on Friday with a commemorative volleyball for earning her first career win as a head coach in her very first match over UT-Martin back on Aug. 30, and of course she followed it up with her first win at home as well. Coach Aganus has the Herd playing well and entering the weekend, Marshall was fourth in the nation in blocks per set at 3.04. Sophomore Isa Dostal was 23rd in the country in blocks per set and junior Destiny Leon was 31st. As a team the Herd already has 144 blocks this season after recording just 164.5 all of last year.

Redshirt junior Ciara Debell leads the team in kills with 210 as she is averaging 4.29 per set. Sophomore Sarah Schank has been playing well in her second season with a career-high 105 kills and is averaging 2.28 per set. Marshall continues a rotation at setter that has been working well as sophomore Gabrielle Coulter leads with 291 assists and junior Sydney Lostumo has 208. Lostumo leads the team in service aces with 17 including a season-best five in the win over Southern Miss.

Senior libero Amber Weber has been the floor defensive leader and is tops in digs with 210. Weber is averaging 4.29 digs per set. She has over 1,000 in her career and 925 playing for the Herd. Debell is next with 120 digs.

The Herd has a team hitting percentage of .257 while opponents have been hitting just .178. Marshall's defense has forced 314 attack errors so far in 2019.

Opponent
The FIU Panthers began the year dropping all three matches at the Indiana University Invitational and then rolled off seven-straight victories. However, FIU has dropped its last two matches including a four-set loss at Florida Atlantic Friday night to begin conference play. The Panthers had 26 attack errors and eight service errors in the loss. FIU finished the 2018 season 19-15 overall and fell in the Conference USA Tournament Championship match to No. 1 seed Rice. Three players have recorded over 100 kills this year with Gina Lipscomb (116), Sidney Henderson (114) and Fiorella Murillo (110). Abbie Hughes is the main setter for the Panthers and has 445 assists. Lipscomb leads the team in service aces with 14 and Sophia Brandsetter is second with 12.

On defense, Lina Bernier is tops on the team with 206 digs while Hughes is second with 121. The Panthers are averaging 1.76 blocks per set with Mrythe Maring leading with 33 total and 1.14 per set.

Following the Sunday match, Marshall heads back out on the road for a weekend of C-USA matches. The Herd plays at Charlotte on Friday, Oct. 4 at 6 p.m. Marshall then travels to WKU on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. eastern.

For all the latest information about Marshall volleyball, follow @HerdVolleyball on Twitter and Marshall University Volleyball on Facebook.

To follow all Thundering Herd sports and get live stats, schedules, and free live audio, download the Marshall Athletics App for iOS or Android!

---HerdZone.com---

Volleyball Takes on FIU Panthers Sunday in the Cam

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Players Mentioned

Gabrielle Coulter

Ciara DeBell

Isa Dostal

Destiny Leon

Sydney Lostumo

Sarah Schank

Amber Weber

Marshall University Athletics