Oct. 24, 2006

The top two teams in the Sun Belt Conference will converge in Boca Raton this weekend as Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky face Florida Atlantic University in conference volleyball action. It will be the second time that FAU has faced these opponents, as they play the back half of a home-and-home series.

In the middle of October, the Owls (7-15, 4-8 SBC) traveled to Middle Tennessee and WKU only to suffer losses in both matches. The Blue Raiders swept the Owls, while WKU needed four games to defeat FAU.

Current SBC Defensive Player of the Week, Justine Petry, leads FAU with a .306 hitting percentage and 1.14 blocks per game. A career-high 11 blocks in a match against UALR last week and has 36 blocks in the last five matches to average 1.71 blocks per game.

Setter Casey LaRocca runs an offense that averages 14.25 kills per game. The sophomore tallies 11.19 assists per game and has produced a team-high 25 service aces.

Each of Middle Tennessee's last three matches have been sweeps. The Blue Raiders defeated Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana-Lafayette and New Orleans to close their home slate. The team has dropped two conference matches in five games. North Texas was the first team to defeat the Blue Raiders and Western Kentucky gave Middle Tennessee its last loss on October 17.

The Blue Raiders (19-6, 10-2 SBC) are led by Ashley Adams' 4.08 kills per game. The sophomore ranks third in the conference with a .358 hitting percentage. As a team, Middle Tennessee holds a .257 hitting percentage, while limiting opponents to a .164 hitting percentage.

Defensively, Ashley Asberry leads the league with 1.45 blocks per game and Preseason Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year Alicia Lemau'u tallies 3.95 digs per game.

Western Kentucky (22-8, 11-1 SBC) has won its last eight matches and its only loss in conference play came at Denver on October 1. Current SBC Player of the Week, Megan Argabright hit .450 in four matches last week to raise her hitting percentage on the season to .397 to rank no. 27 nationally. Her 4.84 kills per game places her in the nation's top 20.

Strong offensive play can be derived from tough serving and setting. Setter Julia Noe averages 12.61 assists per game and ranks no. 21 nationally and with 2.35 aces per game the squad ranks second in the league.

The Owls take on Middle Tennessee on Friday night at 7 p.m. and Western Kentucky on Saturday at 1 p.m. Fans can follow live game video by clicking on the Owls All Access button at www.fausports.com.