MIAMI - Less than a week after ending a 21-match home win streak for one Sun Belt Conference foe, the University of New Orleans could not end another long home winning streak for another in a 3-1 (25-19, 25-16, 19-25, 25-22) loss to Florida International on Friday night.
UNO (14-9, 7-5 SBC) was led in defeat by
Dobrilla Kovacevic, who had 35th career double-double. The senior had 19 kills to go along with 12 digs.
Lindsey Loyd followed with 12 kills, giving her 20 matches this year with double-digit kills.
Cassidy Asebroek had 27 assists while
Nicky Valenti joined Kovacevic in double-figure digs with 11.
FIU (21-4, 11-1 SBC) upped their home winning straight to 11 in addition to extending their overall winning streak to nine.
Yarimar Rosa had a match-high for the Golden Panthers with 20 kills with Isadora Rangel tacking on another 12 as FIU hit .227 for the match.
Mariana Drumeva had 13 digs to lead the Golden Panthers, who also received 11 digs from Angelina Colon and 10 from Rosa. Natalia Valentin had 41 assists.
The Privateers came out strong scoring 7 of 8 points to start the match. UNO's lead would quickly get cut down as the Golden Panthers scored five straight points to come within one.
FIU would chase the Privateers until taking an 18-17 lead on back-to-back Drumeva aces. The Golden Panthers would continue to put up points, scoring nine straight before UNO finally got back on the board.
The host team would close out the opening set 25-19 despite having the nation's top hitter Rosa held to just one kill by the Privateer defense in the frame. Rosa entered the match averaging 5.35 kills a frame.
FIU took a 7-5 lead to begin the second frame. Consecutive blocks involving
Edina Dobi tied it at seven apiece. The Golden Panthers then proceeded to go on a 6-2 run to gain a four-point advantage at 13-9.
The momentum then swung in the favor of the visiting Privateers, who scored four straight points to knot the action at 13. From that point on, it was all FIU as the host squad scored 12 of the final 16 points to give the Golden Panthers a 25-16 win entering the break.
Coming out of the break, UNO was backed against the wall down two sets to none for the second straight match. After an early tie at four, the Privateers offense began to come into form, jumping out to a nine-point advantage at 15-6.
UNO would maintain the lead thanks to Loyd who had six kills in the frame. FIU held off two set points before the Privateers took the set 25-19 with the final point going to UNO on a net violation by the Golden Panthers.
In the fourth set, the two teams played it close for a majority of the set with neither team taking more than a three-point lead.
After the sixth tie of the frame at 19, the Privateer would win the next two points to take a 21-19 lead. FIU would knot the match at 21 and take the lead 22-21. After a UNO point, Rosa put down three consecutive kills for a 25-22 win to close out the match.
A short trip to Boca Raton, Fla. to face Florida Atlantic on Saturday at 6 p.m awaits the Privateers. Live stats will be available through the FAU web site.
