Battle of A-Sun Unbeatens

Oct. 18, 2005

A battle of two unbeaten conference teams will take place on Friday when Florida Atlantic University visits Belmont University. FAU will then travel across town to face Lipscomb University in Nashville on Saturday.

At 17-9, 5-0 A-Sun, Belmont holds the best conference record. The Bruins have not dropped a game in Atlantic Sun play by sweeping Mercer, Stetson, Campbell, Gardner-Webb and Lipscomb. With those wins added to victories over two nonconference teams, the Bruins are on a seven match win streak.

Colleen Nilson runs the BU offense with 1141 assists. Her favorite target is outside hitter Lindsay Cleveland who averages 3.36 kills per game with a .199 hitting percentage. The 2004 First-Team All-Conference selection also leads the team with 43 service aces and is second with 2.78 digs per game.

Belmont will be on the road on Tuesday to face Samford before the match-up with FAU on Friday. The Bruins have yet to beat the Owls in four meetings since joining the A-Sun Conference in 2001.

FAU also holds an unblemished record against Lipscomb in two meetings. The Bisons joined the conference in 2003 and are vying for a spot in this year's A-Sun Tournament with an 8-14, 4-1 A-Sun record. The team's only conference loss was to Belmont on October 13 to squelch the squad's five match win streak.

Lipscomb trails its opponents in almost every statistical category except kills and assists. The squad averages 14.35 kills but has also committed 132 more errors than its opponents to hold a .154 team hitting percentage. With 237 kills, Lindsey Rutherford has been the workhorse on the team with over 100 more attempts than any other player.

Ann Mullins has been a force in the back row with 376 digs (4.64 digs per game) and has added 30 service aces to lead the team. Lipscomb also plays a midweek game when it hosts Austin Peay on Tuesday before hosting A-Sun member ETSU on Friday and FAU on Saturday.

FAU has won its last four matches and has only dropped one game in that span. With its next win, the team will tie its Division I wins record set in 2004. The team enters the weekend with a 20-2, 4-0 A-Sun record.

Kelly Paiva leads the conference with 5.71 kills per game and is ranked among the nation's leaders. The senior needs only 33 kills to break the FAU single season record. She is second on the team in service aces and digs behind Makra Condill. Condill has 34 aces and 325 digs.

At the net, Justine Petry and Katie Arvidson rank second and third in the conference respectively with 82 and 80 blocks. The two also lead the A-Sun with hitting percentages above .320.

The two road matches are the first of five consecutive for the Owls. Friday's match time is set for 7:30 pm with the Lipscomb match scheduled for 4 pm.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Players Mentioned

Katie Arvidson

Justine Petry

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Event: Women's Volleyball versus (3) Tulsa on November 21, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Volleyball versus American Semifinals on November 22, 2025 at 3 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Volleyball versus American Championship on November 23, 2025 at 1 p.m.

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