Wednesday, October 15, 2002

Nirvana Kos out for the season with a degenerative disk

lorida International volleyball was dealt a big blow this week, learning that preseason Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Nirvana Kos will be out for the remainder of the season due to a degenerative disk in her back.

"This team has to move on," said head coach Cookie Stevens. "We've been through adversity before and this team will prevail."

Kos led the conference last season in service aces and was second in kills on her way to being named unanimous first-team all conference for the second consecutive year. The senior played in ten of 19 matches this season, leading the team with 3.63 kills per game and third in digs (1.95) and service aces (0.42).

The Rovinj, Croatia native helped FIU win the 2001 Sun Belt Tournament, being named the tournament's MVP, with a match-high 23 kills in the finals over Western Kentucky. She has broken FIU's career kill record with 1,283 over her three years.

The Golden Panthers will play at Miami this Wednesday night in Coral Gables before traveling to Sun Belt foes North Texas and Louisiana-Lafayette this weekend.