The FIU Panthers went on the road to Tallahassee and brought out the brooms. Sweeping the Florida A&M tournament and winning a game against Florida State University, this team is starting to pack a punch. Here’s a recap of how each game of the weekend went.
September 11th: vs. Hampton
In the first game of a doubleheader on Friday, FIU matched up against the Hampton University Pirates. They dominated throughout the entire match and won 3-0. Having nearly double the kills and points and nearly triple the aces that Hampton had.
The first set was the most competitive ending 25-21. The Pirates had only five kills and errors but what made this set so close was the Panthers’ 11 errors. It was a gutsy set to go up 1-0 but from then on it was smooth sailing.
Freshman outside hitter Lana Sesar led the team with 12 kills, something that would be continued throughout the weekend. Graduate student Chiara Fabbrini also had a season-high 11 kills. The Panthers additionally played well with setting up attacks. Both setters Ivana Lazovic and Mariana Silva had 20 and 19 assists, respectively.
Chiara tied a season-high with 1️⃣1️⃣ kills this morning! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/PEIxWN7vre
— FIU Volleyball (@FIUVolleyball) September 11, 2026
The next two sets FIU would go on to win by a combined 19 points. Heading into Tallahassee the Panthers were 2-4 so this dominant win was a huge confidence boost for the rest of the Florida A&M Tournament.
September 11th: at Florida A&M
The same day later in the evening FIU played the home team of the tournament, the Florida A&M Rattlers. Where they would carry that confidence to yet another 3-0 victory.
Defensively the Panthers played well as both teams had 95 total attempts, but FIU leading in digs 44-27. Libero Marta Lazzarin had 20 digs and currently leads the team in that stat. Blocks were also spread out as Junior Kamryn Itzen lead with four, followed by Freshman Gina Fedrigo and Sesar having three a piece.
Fedrigo showed her presence in this match not just with the blocks but also scoring 8 kills on 14 attempts. Sophomore Rayne Williams also provided depth on the attack with 6 kills on 9 attempts. FIU also led in aces 9-3, Junior Marla Valentin and Lazzarin having 3 each. Overall, a another lopsided win for the Panthers that brought them back to a .500 record.
September 12th: vs. Louisiana
Heading into Saturday afternoon, the Panthers faced the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for the final match of the tournament. A hard-fought match that played all five sets.
An even match defensively, both teams tied in blocks and FIU led in digs only by one. But the Panthers slightly took the edge in efficiency, leading in kills 68-56.
Sesar led with the way with 24 kills, with Junior Jillian Huckabey provided another 15 kills to the depth. Fabbrini also tied that season high of 11 kills she made the day prior. Lazovic and Silva again led the team with assists setting up a total of 50 combined (30 and 20, respectively). A duo that knows their awareness around the court to provide an effective offense.
FIU swept the Florida A&M tournament to put themselves back over .500, but they still had one more match to close out the weekend.
September 13th: at Florida State
After sweeping the Florida A&M tournament the Panthers weren’t done. They stayed in the same city to play the Florida State Seminoles at the Tully Gymnasium. A team that received votes in the national rankings that the Panthers went on to beat 3-0.
The stats in this game were level. FSU led in points, kills, blocks, and assists slightly, yet FIU was resilient and found a way to win. They played defensively with Lazzarin having 9 of the 48 digs from the Panthers. Then followed by Huckabey and Lazovic with eight and seven respectively.
As mentioned earlier, Sesar would continue to shine throughout the weekend leading the team in kills for all four games, having 10 in this match. Currently she has 134 kills on the season, along with 78 digs. Doing this as a freshman is impressive but there’s a reason why she won best outside hitter in the Croatian Cup in 2025-26.
Both teams committed the same amount of errors at 18. Late in the second set, FSU committed five errors within seven rallies that helped FIU take a commanding 23-17 lead. When the Panthers eventually won that set to go up 2-0, you could see the mental errors pile up for FSU that lost them the final set.
AIN’T NOLE PROBLEM FOR THE PANTHERS 🧹🧹 pic.twitter.com/jbaUErEE8G
— FIU Volleyball (@FIUVolleyball) September 13, 2026
Recap & Outlook
A successful weekend for the FIU Panthers to say the least. Going 4-0 over the weekend is one thing, but one of those wins being against a team that received national ranking votes is a statement. This the competitive nature that Coach Flavia Siqueira brought to the team and it’s looking like the Panthers can make noise in Conference USA.
Four matches in three days and only dropping two sets. Now they’ll be heading back home to the Ocean Bank Convocation Center for the 305 Invitational. They have a 6-4 record and will play the Central Michigan Chippewas, Alabama A&M Bulldogs, and Jacksonville Dolphins.
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