Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Florida Atlantic
Middle Tennessee
Volleyball Sweeps no. 2 Team in Sun Belt
10/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 27, 2006
Florida Atlantic University's volleyball team held Middle Tennessee to a .127 hitting percentage to sweep the no. 2 team in the Sun Belt Conference on Friday night in Boca Raton. Krystena Castro finished with a match-high 12 kills and a .381 hitting percentage to help FAU improve to 8-15, 5-8 SBC, while the Blue Raiders fall to 19-7, 10-3 SBC.
"We had solid blocking from everyone in the front row and we played solid defense," said FAU head coach Jody Brown. "This is the first time this season that we play three good games in a row."
FAU trailed in game one until the Owls tied the score at 14 on a Castro (Nanuet, NY) kill. Kaila Janssen (Whitdy, Ontario, Canada) gave Florida Atlantic the lead on one of her eight kills and the team would roll to take the 1-0 advantage.
Game two was closer as the game was tied at 28 on one of Middle Tennessee's 33 attacking errors on the night. Casey LaRocca (St. Louis, MO) recorded one of the team's six service aces to give FAU the advantage before another Middle Tennessee attacking error gave the Owls game two.
After the intermission, FAU came out with the momentum and held its largest lead at 15-8 before Middle Tennessee chipped away the margin. Two straight FAU attacking errors allowed the Blue Raiders to tie game three at 24-24 before Florida Atlantic went on a 6-1 run to close out the match.
Katie Arvidson (Franklin, TN) finished with six of FAU's eight blocks, while Nikki Hartman (Deltona, FL) provided four easy points for the Owls with service aces. Justine Petry contributed 10 kills as FAU's middle hitters combined for 54 percent of the team's kills.
The Blue Raiders were led by Jessica Robinson and Ashley Adams with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Alicia Lemau'u finished with a match-high 13 digs.
FAU returns to the court on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. to face the reigning Sun Belt Conference Champion, Western Kentucky. The Lady Toppers suffered a sweep at Florida International on Friday night.
