Sept. 9, 2006

Final Stats

On Saturday at the Hawkeye-Holiday Inn Classic, Florida Atlantic University split two five-game matches. FAU (2-7) defeated Tulane in the first game of the afternoon before dropping a marathon to the University of Iowa.

The Owls started the day with a 3-2 (30-25, 31-29, 22-30, 26-30, 15-5) win over Tulane. The team used 16 service aces, one shy of the FAU record, to earn the five-game win. Freshman Lauren Ditscheit (Wauwatosa, WI) finished with a career-high six service aces.

The Green Wave led in every statistical category except service aces for the match. In the fifth game, FAU turned on the offense to win its second straight match by hitting .462 with seven kills and only one error.

Janelle Sarauw (St. Thomas, V.I.) led the charge with 17 kills. It was the third consecutive match that the senior posted 17 kills for the Owls. Fellow outside hitter Iana Andonova (Margate, FL) added 13, while middle hitter Justine Petry (Trumansburg, NY) tallied 12 kills and five blocks. Casey LaRocca (St. Louis, MO) finished with a double-double with 43 assists and 13 digs. Libero Nikki Hartman (Deltona, FL) recorded a team-high 20 digs.

Ksenija Vlaskovic led Tulane with 21 kills as the Green Wave hit .184 for the match. Defensively, five players picked up over 10 digs and Jenn Miller finished with a match-high 26 digs.

After FAU took the first two games against Iowa (8-1), the Hawkeyes bounced back to take the next three games. The third game gave Iowa the momentum for the rest of the match after taking a 39-37 game win. The two teams traded points until Iowa's Melanie Meister recorded one of her 23 kills to end the marathon. Meister was named the MVP of the tournament.

LaRocca finished with a career-high 74 assists in the match and added her second double-double of the day with 15 digs. Ditscheit led the defense with 24 digs.

On the offensive side, Andonova finished with 27 kills followed by Sarauw's 26. Sarauw hit .362 in the match with only five errors. Andonova and LaRocca were named to the All-Tournament Team.

FAU will open its home schedule on Friday when it hosts Bethune-Cookman College on Friday at 7 p.m.