BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic volleyball (10-5, 0-3 C-USA) is set for a nationally ranked battle on Sunday as the Owls visit the No. 22-ranked Rice Owls for a 2 p.m. ET clash inside Tudor Fieldhouse.
- The Owls enter Sunday's contest with a 10-5 overall record and a 0-3 mark in C-USA play.
- FAU is just coming off a tough five-set loss against the UTSA Roadrunners, 3-2 (19-25, 18-25, 25-22, 34-32, 5-15).
- Head coach Fernanda Nelson has led the Owls to a 149-131 (.532) overall record over her 11 seasons in Boca Raton.
- So far during 2022, the Owls have been led offensively by sophomores Valeria Rosado, Klara Zarnovicka, and Katelynn Robine. The trio has recorded 186 (3.65 per set), 138 (2.76 per set), and 121 kills (2.88 per set) each, respectively.
- Fellow sophomore Noelle Stephens has been the Owls' leading setter this season, dishing out team-high 481 assists, averaging 9.43 pet set.
- Senior Camryn Vogler and Rosado have led the FAU backline, tallying a team-leading 176 (3.45 per set) and 122 digs (2.39 per set), respectively.
- Senior Lauryn Green leads the Owls in blocks with a team-best 42 denials, while Zarnovicka follows just behind with 33 blocks this season.
- FAU rallied from a 2-0 deficit to even the match, but ultimately fell in a five-set battle, 3-2, against the UTSA Roadrunners on Friday evening.
- Valeria posted a match-high 21 kills, breaking 20+ kills for the second time this season.
- Lauryn Green tied for a match-high three blocks
- Vogler posted a season-high three aces
- Rice enters Sunday's contest with a 13-1 overall record and a 3-0 mark in C-USA play and are just coming off a 3-2 win on Friday over the North Texas Mean Green.
- The Owls are led by head coach Genny Volpe, who has coached Rice to a 362-195 record over in her 19 seasons in Houston.
- Rice's offense is paced by Anota Adekunle, Danyle Courtley, and Sahara Maruska. Adekunle leads the Owls with 151 kills (2.90 pet set), while Courtley and Maruska have also registered triple-digit kills with 149 (2.76 pet set) and 139 kills (2.57 pet set), respectively.
- Carly Graham leads the Owls in assists, dishing out a team-best 538 assists, averaging 9.96 per set this season.
- Defensively, Rice's backline is led by Nia McCardell who has tallied a team-best 282 digs (5.22 pet set) this season, and at the net, the Owls are paced Adekunle who has tallied a team-high 41 blocks (0.79 per set) during the 2022 campaign.
Rice leads the all-time series between the two programs, 7-2. In their last meeting, Rice won 3-0 on Nov. 8, 2019 in Houston.
FAU will close out its three-game road trip on Friday, Oct. 7 as the Owls travel to Charlotte, N.C. to face the Charlotte 49ers for a 6 p.m. ET first serve at Halton Arena.
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