Volleyball Battles for Four-Set Win over FIU

Box Score (PDF)

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall volleyball team earned a hard-fought, four-set victory (25-27, 26-24, 25-21, 25-17) over the FIU Panthers, Sunday afternoon in the Cam Henderson Center. The match featured a total of 29 ties and 14 lead changes.

The Thundering Herd improved to 11-4 and 2-0 in Conference USA. The Panthers fall to 7-6 and 0-2 in conference play.

"The crowd this weekend has been amazing," Herd head Ari Aganus said. "The atmosphere they provided with the 'We Are Marshall' cheer was awesome and this has been one of the most amazing experiences in my coaching and playing career.

"We talked to (the players) after set three and just reminded them that this is going to be a battle and they just have to dig in and embrace the fight. Sometimes you get worried about making errors and that leads to more errors, so going out there confidently and swinging hard and just staying calm. I think they finally stayed calm and embraced the fight."

The Herd recorded 15 more blocks in the contest. Sophomore Isa Dostal added to her team-leading total with eight. Sophomore Mion Weldon and junior Destiny Leon had six total blocks each. Senior Ivana Trencheva was in on five blocks and redshirt junior Ciara Debell had her hands on four total blocks.

Debell led all players in the match with 16 kills and added 11 digs. Weldon recorded eight kills while Dostal and sophomore Sarah Schank tallied seven each. Schank also recorded three service aces. Dostal finished with a .462 hitting percentage. Sophomore Gabrielle Coulter had 26 assists and junior Sydney Lostumo finished with 17. Senior libero Amber Weber came through with 22 digs and had three assists.

The almost 800 in attendance got to see what type of a match they were in for right from the beginning. With 10 ties and six lead changes in the first set, it was a battle from the beginning all the way through. FIU took the early lead with the Herd coming back and taking its first lead at 4-3. The largest lead of the set for either team was just two points. Both squads fought for the final points to try and close it out as finally the Panthers got the last point on a service ace, 27-25, to take a 1-0 lead.

In the second set, there were only five ties and two lead changes as the Herd tied the match at 1-1. FIU hit just .053 in the set as Marshall was able to keep the ball alive off attacks. Schank recorded four of her kills in the second set. Again, the teams had to extend it beyond 25 for the win as FIU tied it up at 24-24. A block from Trencheva and Dostal moved the Herd ahead and then an attack error by the Panthers gave the Herd the win, 26-24.

Debell tallied seven of her kills in the third set and usually coming at a crucial moment as once again the teams fought back-and-forth with 10 more ties and six lead changes. Weber helped keep the Herd in the set as well with nine digs, forcing a .044 hitting percentage for FIU in the third period. Marshall took back the lead for the last time at 19-18 on a kill by Leon. The Herd defense forced back-to-back FIU errors to win the set, 25-21, and take the 2-1 lead.

Marshall came out firing in the fourth set, jumping out to a 4-0 lead. However, FIU came right back and tied things up at 4-4. The teams kept it close with the final tie score at 10-10. A block from Weldon and Dostal gave the Herd back the lead and Marshall kept hold of it the rest of the way. The Herd used a 4-0 run and a 3-0 run to pull away late in the set. A kill by Debell moved it to match-point and then Lostumo fired an ace to end the day and record the Herd's 11th win of the season to surpass its win total of 2018.

Conference USA action continues as this time Marshall heads out on the road. The Herd travels first to Charlotte on Friday, Oct. 4 at 6 p.m. Marshall then moves on 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!

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Team Stats

Ciara DeBell

Mion Weldon

Sarah Schank

Isa Dostal

Players Mentioned

Gabrielle Coulter

Ciara DeBell

Isa Dostal

Destiny Leon

Sydney Lostumo

Sarah Schank

Ivana Trencheva

Amber Weber

Mion Weldon

Players Mentioned

Gabrielle Coulter

Ciara DeBell

Isa Dostal

Destiny Leon

Sydney Lostumo

Sarah Schank

Ivana Trencheva

Amber Weber

Mion Weldon

Marshall University Athletics