Blue Hens Drop Five-Set Thriller to FIU

Friday, August 31

Miami, FL

5:30 PM

University of Delaware

3-2

Florida International University

5-1

Delaware

FIU

Photo by: Mark Campbell

9/1/2018 1:02:00 AM | Volleyball

Box Score

MIAMI, Fla. – There's not many fingernails left for most University of Delaware volleyball fans after Friday night's showdown with FIU.

A back and forth match from the start, Delaware won a dramatic 28-26 third set to take a 2-1 lead, but the Panthers bounced back to win the fourth and fifth set and pull out the 3-2 defeat of the Blue Hens.

Junior Maria Bellinger had her second 20-plus kill performance, while sophomore Courtnie Roberts set a career-high on the evening with 53 assists, the highest total by a Blue Hen since 2016.

Roberts also had 17 digs on the night as Delaware finished with 96 digs as a team on the evening.

Quotable

"This one is going to sting a bit. We had some opportunities, especially in set two to put ourselves up 2-0 and didn't capitalize. Our block was not very disciplined tonight and their hitters took advantage. It is a great learning opportunity for us to work on staying consistent throughout a whole match. We have to bounce back tomorrow with a great defensive effort." Head Coach Sara Matthews

Up Next

The Blue Hens wrap up their stay in Miami by taking on Chicago State in the finale of the FIU Panther Invitational. Game time on Saturday morning is set for 9:30 a.m.