Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Volleyball Faces Tough Road Task
10/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 8, 2006
After hosting three Sun Belt Conference matches last week, the Florida Atlantic University volleyball team will travel to Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky this weekend in conference action. The road trip could be the toughest of the conference season for the Owls as WKU and MTSU met last season in the conference championship match.
The Owls are looking to end a three-game skid. FAU (7-11, 4-4 SBC) dropped its last match in five games to North Texas in a defensive battle. Florida Atlantic's next four matches are on the road.
Iana Andonova leads FAU with 265 kills, while Nikki Hartman has been steady as the team's libero with 3.48 digs per game. Middle hitter Justine Petry holds a team-leading .326 hitting percentage and has 54 blocks (1.00 blocks per game) after picking up 10 in her last match.
On Friday night the Owls will face the Blue Raiders (14-5). The team is 5-1 in conference play with its only loss coming to North Texas in five games. MTSU's last two wins were sweeps of Arkansas-Little Rock and Arkansas State.
Ashley Adams leads Middle Tennessee with 273 kills, while libero Alicia Lemau'u runs the defense and averages 4.00 digs per game. Megan Sumrell and Leslie have split time as setters and average 11.12 and 12.00 assists per game.
Western Kentucky (16-7, 5-1 SBC) has appeared in the last five SBC Tournament Championship matches and won the championship last season with a 12-0 record in conference play. This season, WKU is 5-1 in conference play with a loss to Denver University. Four of the wins have been 3-0 sweeps.
Megan Argabright, the 2005 Collegiate Volleyball National Freshman of the Year and All-American, leads WKU with 367 kills (4.77 kills per game) and a .395 hitting percentage. She also tops the team with 30 service aces and 75 blocks.
The team carries a .251 hitting percentage, while holding opponents to a .172 hitting percentage.
Fans can follow live game action against WKU on Saturday afternoon by visiting the FAU volleyball schedule page at www.fausports.com and clicking on the live stats link.
