Nov. 18, 2005

Final Stats

With a 3-0 win over Lipscomb University in the semifinal round of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament, Florida Atlantic University advanced to the championship match of the conference tournament. The Owls held the Bisons to a .041 hitting percentage and posted 46 kills in the 30-24, 30-24, 30-19 win.

A-Sun Player of the Year Kelly Paiva finished the match with 21 kills and a .333 hitting percentage and picked up a double-double with 15 digs. Libero Makra Condill added 12 of the team's 51 digs.

"Whenever Lipscomb serves really well they are hard to play," said FAU head coach Jody Brown. "We had to contain their serves and hit the ball."

The Bisons picked up two service aces in game one but were not able to control the FAU offense as the Owls held the lead throughout the whole game.

In game two, Lipscomb (13-20) took an early lead and extended it to 11-6 before FAU went on a 10-5 run to tie the game at 16 on a Paiva service ace. Florida Atlantic closed out the game with its highest hitting percentage in the match at .302.

FAU (28-2) ran away in game three and held a lead as large as 12 points. The win was the fourth over the Bisons in four meetings for the Owls. The victory was also the 12th consecutive win of the season for the no. 1 seed in the tournament.

Justine Petry added nine kills and two blocks for FAU. Freshman of the Year, Katie Arvidson contributed seven blocks in the FAU win.

Cara Wilbur led Lipscomb with 11 kills and added 11 digs. Ann Mullins led the Bisons' defense with a match-high 20 digs.

The winner of the Belmont/Jacksonville match on Friday night will face the Owls on Saturday afternoon at 2 pm.

"We pretty much know what to expect out of Jacksonville or Belmont," said Brown. "You always like to play someone without a home crowd so that would be JU. It really doesn't matter which one we play. We know what we need to do against both. We put our focus on things that we can control."

In its final season in the Atlantic Sun Conference, Florida Atlantic will be making its fourth appearance in the championship match of the tournament. In 2001, the Owls fell to UCF in five games. FAU captured its last tournament crown in 1999.