MIAMI, Fla. – The 2023 season got off to a tough start for the Lamar University volleyball team Friday afternoon who faced Florida International on the opening day of the Canes' Classic on the University of Miami campus. In what amounted to a home match for FIU, the Golden Panthers defeated Lamar, 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-15).
 
Led by 11 kills from freshman Lyric Jordan, the Cardinals ended the day with 23 kills while hitting .076 (23-17-79) from the floor. The Golden Panthers ended the day with 13 more swings than LU and took advantage converting 41 of their attempts into points (41-16-92/.272).
 
The Golden Panthers also got a huge advantage off the serve with 10 service aces to Big Red's one, while blocks were even at seven.
 
Florida International took advantages of early leads in all three sets and held off LU late for the individual set wins. Leading by a point early in the opening set, FIU rattled off an 8-3 rally to build a six-point lead. That advantage grew to nine before the Cardinals rallied late trimming the deficit down to just five before FIU scored five of the final six points for the opening set.
 
Set two saw FIU take an 11-point lead midway through and never look back, while the Panthers scored the first six points of the third set to take an early lead. The third set saw the Cardinals claw their way back to within a tie, 9-9, behind some strong play from freshman Sydnee Griffen. The McKinney native recorded a kill off the feed from Monique Gonzalez to get within two. Following an FIU error, Griffen recorded a solo block to tie the match at 9.
 
Unfortunately, that would be as close as LU would get as the Panthers responded with a run of its own to get the lead back to nine and held on for the three-set victory.
 
The Cardinals will close out the Canes Classic Saturday with a match against Maryland. Big Red will step on the floor at noon looking for their first victory of the season.