SAN ANTONIO — UTSA will meet FIU in the opening match of this weekend's Conference USA Tournament on Friday at the Convocation Center.
Host and second-seeded UTSA will kick off the three-day event at 12 p.m. The Roadrunners posted a 13-3 record in league action and owns a 22-8 mark overall. UTSA heads into the weekend following last Saturday's road loss at North Texas, which snapped an eight-match winning streak.
Both teams met earlier in the season with UTSA earning a four-set road victory in Miami. The Roadrunners held the Panthers to a .020 hitting percentage while Dajana Boskovic and Marijeta Runjic each had 21 and 15 kills, respectively. No FIU player reached double-figure kills, but it was led by Katie Hogan’s nine.
UTSA concluded the regular season with the league’s third-best hitting percentage (.247) and held its opponents a .162 clip (2nd C-USA), which ranks 24th in the NCAA.
Four Roadrunners players represented UTSA on the All-Conference USA teams. Boskovic repeated as a first-team selection, while Amanda Gonzales, Runjic and Kylie Schott all were second-team honorees. Gonzales also was named to the circuit's All-Freshman Team.
FIU (15-12) earned the tournament's seventh seed with a 9-7 mark in league play. It is the first postseason berth for the Panthers since the 2013 season.
FIU heads to the tournament riding a two-match win streak to close out the regular season, which snapped a four-match losing skid. FIU leads C-USA at the net, averaging 2.51 blocks per set and are led by all-conference selection Jennifer Ene’s 98 total blocks.
If the Roadrunners advance, UTSA would take the winner between No. 3 Rice and No. 6 Southern Miss. The Roadrunners faced Rice in a home-and-home series and won both meetings. UTSA faced Southern Miss only once this year and won a five-set thriller.
Click here for complete tournament notes.