Oct. 4, 2005

Florida Atlantic University's volleyball team will start the heart of the conference season this week after facing North Florida on Wednesday evening at 5 pm. With eight conference matches in the next month, the 2004 Atlantic Sun Conference Champions will start A-Sun play on Saturday at Stetson at 2 pm.

The Ospreys' season has been full of streaks. After starting the year with three wins, UNF has dropped its next six matches before going on a five-match winning streak. On Saturday, the team fell to cross-town rival Jacksonville in Atlantic Sun Conference play. The match on Wednesday will not count towards conference play. The two teams will meet again on October 27 in Jacksonville for bragging rights in the A-Sun.

With a 8-7, 1-1 A-Sun record, UNF is led by Emily Kohler with 155 kills and is followed by Jennifer King with 145. The team averages 15.25 to rank third in the A-Sun in kills per game. Jenna Thomas leads the A-Sun's top defense with 235 digs. The team leads the A-Sun with 17.58 digs per game.

Leading the all-time series 24-4 against Stetson, FAU heads to DeLand, FL to face the 4-12 Hatters. In an earlier meeting this season, the Owls snuck away with a 3-2 win in Boca Raton. Stetson has dropped six straight matches and is looking for its first win since September 14.

DeeAnn Dempsey is second in the A-Sun and averages 3.90 kills per game, second behind FAU's Kelly Paiva (5.56). The senior provides 30 percent of the team's offense and is also relied upon in the back row where she has 155 digs. Rebecca Orzechowicz leads the squad with 183 digs and is followed by Karla Readshaw's 178.

Melissa Muller provides aggressive serving and leads the conference with 0.52 aces per game.

FAU (16-2, 1-0 A-Sun) is coming off of a grueling week, playing five matches in three days. The Owls dropped their first matches of the season at the LIU Classic, falling to Long Island and Northern Colorado.

Kelly Paiva was named to the all-tournament team after she recorded 79 kills in four matches, including her fourth 30-kill match of the season. She also added 63 digs and 13 blocks. The senior leads the conference and is fifth in the nation in kills per game (5.61).

Trumansburg, NY native Justine Petry had a career weekend at LIU. The sophomore recorded 60 kills and 22 blocks in the four games. Against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi she finished with a career-high 21 kills and eight blocks in the win.

Petry and freshman Katie Arvidson are the only two players in the A-Sun with hitting percentages over .300. Arvidson leads the conference with a .351 average, while Petry follows at .318.

Casey LaRocca runs the offense with 784 assists on the season for a 12.06 assists per game average to lead the conference.