BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic hits the road for their second conference road trip of the year this weekend, heading to Greenville, N.C. for a pair of matchups against the East Carolina Pirates on Sept. 29 and 30. Catch all the action live this weekend on ESPN+.
- The Owls enter their second week of American Athletic Conference play at 9-7 overall and 1-2 in league play. The Owls fell in three sets in their AAC opener at North Texas, before splitting a pair of four-set decisions, including a dominant 3-1 win against the Temple Owls this past Sunday.
- Offensively, the Owls are led by Arianna Beckham, Kaila Ru, Romina Cornelio, and Katelynn Robine, who are averaging 2.52, 2.41, 2.31, 2.26 kills per set so far this season. Beckham has tallied a team-leading 136 kills, while Ru leads the Owls in attack percentage, hitting for an impressive .335 through the Owls 16 games this season.
- The Owls run their offense through two setters in Victoria Hensley and Noelle Stephens. Hensley boasts a team-leading 442 assists, averaging 8.04 assists per set, while Stephens has dished out 176 assists, averaging 3.83 assists per set this season.
- Florida Atlantic's back row is led by the Owls' first-year Libero, Isabelle Northam, who has tallied an impressive 234 digs, averaging 4.25 digs per set.
- At the net, the Owls are led by Ru, Beckham, and Lauryn Green. Ru leads the Owls with 43 blocks, averaging 0.93 blocks per set, while Beckham has a team second-best 35 blocks, averaging 0.65 blocks per set this season. Lauryn Green leads the Owls in blocks per set with 1.03, and has tallied a team third-best 34 blocks in 2023.
- ECU sits tied for the AAC East Division league lead alongside USF at 2-1 and 11-3 overall.
- The Pirates opened up AAC play against Wichita State, falling in a straight-set sweep against the Shockers, before earning a sweep and a five-set win against the UAB Blazers this past weekend.
- The Pirates offensive leader is Angeles Alderete, who paces ECU in kills (149), kills per set (3.04), points (174.5), and points per set (3.56), while ranking second on the team in digs (132), digs per set (2.69), and service aces (18).
- The Pirates run their offense through a pair of setters in Julianna Askew and Payton Evenstad, who have dished out 256 and 202 assists, averaging 5.22 and 4.30 assists per set, respectively.
- Defensively, the Pirates back row is led by Lara Uyar who has recorded a team-leading 158 digs, averaging 3.67 digs per set. ECU's most prominent net defender has been Carlia Northcross, who has tallied a team-best 59 blocks, averaging 1.23 per set this season.
- This weekend series will mark the second and third ever meetings between the Owls and the Pirates. The first and last time the programs met, the Owls earned a five-set victory over ECU, 3-2, in Greenville, N.C. on Oct. 29, 2013.
- Following this weekend's two-match series, the Owls will return home to open up the month of October as they host the Tulsa Hurricanes for a matchup on Friday, Oct. 6. First serve is set for 6 p.m. inside Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
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