FIU women’s beach volleyball qualifies for NCAA’s despite loss in the C-USA final
FIU women’s beach volleyball rattled off four straight wins in the Conference USA tournament before falling in the finals to the FAU 3-0 on Saturday at Fort Lauderdale Beach Park.
The Panthers came in as the No. 1 seed, boasting a 17-15 overall record. FAU was right behind them as the No. 2 seed. Both teams earned a first-round bye.
Regular-season success didn’t translate immediately for the Panthers as they got off to a rocky start in their title run, falling 3-2 to a UAB Blazers team that had its best season in program history with 18 wins.
The loss shocked the Panthers, but it wasn’t the end of their season since the tournament is two-game elimination.
On the tournament’s second day, FIU rebounded with back-to-back sweeps of Jacksonville State and Tulane, 5-0 and 3-0 respectively.
After exacting revenge on the Blazers with a third sweep in a row, 3-0, the Panthers found themselves pitted against FAU in the final.
Freshman duo Emma Grace Robertson and Ashleigh Adams got the day going for the Sandy Owls with their fifth win of the season over Bielak and Pratesi, 21-17, 21-12.
The Sandy Owls then kept the momentum going with another win from senior Courtney Moon and sophomore Marketa Svozilova, giving FAU a 2-0 advantage.
In the end, FIU was unable to mount a comeback, handing FAU its first-ever C-USA title and giving them an automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history.
Despite the loss, the Panthers have qualified for the NCAA Championships for the second time since 2018 as the No. 13 seed and will face No. 4 Florida State in Gulf Shores, Alabama, on Friday at noon.
Basketball
After spending three years at the University of North Florida, forward Jonathan Aybar announced his commitment to FIU on April 24 via Twitter.
Aybar, the 6-9, 183-pound forward, was ranked a three-star recruit by 247Sports coming out of high school and looks to provide the Panthers with intensity and athleticism.
Last season he averaged 8.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 0.6 blocks and 0.5 steals per game.
While these numbers might not immediately jump out of the stat sheet, they are extremely impressive, considering the fact he only started one of 30 games played.
Prior to the most recent season, Aybar received much more playing time, starting in 16 out of 23 games in the 2020-21 season.
During that season, he averaged 21.4 minutes per game, averaging fewer points but still contributed 5.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.
His efforts were rewarded that season and he was placed on the ASUN Conference All-Freshman team, mostly for his defensive dominance that year.
Even though his playing time decreased, Aybar still improved significantly in the 2022-23 season.
Averaging the highest point total of his career, both his field-goal and three-point percentages have drastically increased since his first year.
He went from shooting 48.4 percent from the field and 28. percent% on threes to 54.8 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from three, showing dedication to developing his offensive game.
Showing growth as a two-way player, Aybar can provide the Panthers with energy, hustle and most importantly, defense, something FIU is looking to rework with their other recent acquisition of junior college star Okechukwu Okeke.
The two look to form a fierce defensive-minded frontcourt for the Panthers next season.
Golf
Sophomore standout Karissa Kilby has qualified for the 2023 NCAA Women’s Golf Palm Beach Gardens Regional, becoming the first Panther to compete in an NCAA Regional since Camila Serrano in 2017.
Kilby, last season’s C-USA Freshman of the Year, has earned four top-10 and three top-20 finishes throughout eight tournaments this year with a team-leading 73.05 stroke average.
The Honolulu native is also a two-time C-USA Golfer of the Week this season and one of only three golfers to be selected from the conference to compete in the tournament.
Finishing as a runner-up for both the Johnie Imes and Babs Steffens Invitationals, Kilby helped FIU secure its first tournament victory since the Jupiter Women’s Invitational in 2019.
The Golf Palm Beach Gardens Regionals will run from May 8-10.
Brian Olmo is the Sports Director for PantherNOW. William Duval is the assistant director.
Follow Brian Olmo and William Duval on Twitter at @Brian_Olmo11 and @WillDuval40
