Sept. 9, 2008

Weekend Preview with Jody Brown

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - The Florida Atlantic University volleyball team will play its final tournament of the regular season when it travels to Colorado Springs, Colorado to take part in the Air Force Invitational.

FAU will face Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in its first match of the tournament on Friday, September 12 at 6 p.m., and then will play the Air Force Falcons at 9 p.m. On Saturday, September 13 at 3 p.m., FAU will face the University of North Carolina-Central, and then in their final match of the tournament, the Owls will play Kent State University at 7 p.m.

The Owls defeated the Texas A& M Islanders 3-1 in 2005 in the only previous meeting of the two teams. Katie Arvidson had 12 kills and Casey LaRocca had 46 assists in the match.

The Owls will play Air Force for the first time ever in Friday's meeting. Air Force has a diverse offensive attack featuring four players that average at least two kills a set, led by senior middle blocker Jasamine Pettie.

The UNCC Eagles are led by middle blocker Avaniki Campbell, who is hitting .172 on the season. This also will be the first time FAU faces the Kent State Golden Flashes. Kent State has won both of their tournaments so far this season. Outside hitter Ashley Feutz leads the team in both kills per set (3.41) and hitting efficiency (.305).

The Owls (4-2) won two of their three matches at last weekend's Kangaroo Klassic, defeating Morgan State University and host UMKC before falling to Samford University in the final match of the tournament.

This weekend's tournament will be a homecoming for three Owls as Mallory Deneen, Katie Evanyo and Kendall Utz all hail from Colorado.

FAU's match against Air Force will be available via GameTracker at www.fausports.com.