The loss dropped the Lady Toppers to 22-6 overall and 11-2 in the Sun Belt Conference, while the Golden Panthers improved to 14-6 and 9-4 in the conference.
FIU led wire-to-wire in games two and three, jumping out to early leads in both sets. In game two, the Golden Panthers led by as many as 13 when a block by Yarimar Rosa and Anita Szymanska pushed their advantage to 25-12 en route to a 30-19 victory. It was much of the same in game three as Florida International hit .400 as a team and scored 12 of the first 15 points to take an early lead and close out the match.
WKU held an early 7-4 lead in the opening game thanks to a service ace by Abbie Siljendahl, but the Golden Panthers stormed back with an 8-2 run to take their first lead of the match at 12-9. The Lady Toppers would regain a 14-13 lead thanks to a block by Megan Argabright and Julia Noe, but FIU took the lead for good when an Ines Medved kill broke an 18-18 tie and sparked a 4-0 run. WKU got within two when a Golden Panther service error made it 25-23, but Rosa put down one of her match-high 13 kills on the next point to spark a 5-0 run as the Golden Panthers took the opening game 30-23.
Brittany Bowen led the Lady Toppers with 11 kills off the bench, while Argabright and Aquila Orr added nine and eight, respectively. Kelly Hofmeyer finished with a match-high 14 digs for WKU. Rosa added 10 digs to post a double-double for the Golden Panthers.
The Lady Toppers continue their four-match homestand on Saturday (Oct. 27) when they host Florida Atlantic in a 1 p.m. (CDT) match.
