Oct. 26, 2004

Florida Atlantic University's volleyball team could claim at least a share of the 2004 Atlantic Sun Title with a win on Friday night over UCF. The Owls will face the Golden Knights at 7 pm in Orlando before traveling to Bethune-Cookman for a 1 pm meeting with the Wildcats on Saturday.

Currently in a tie for second place in the A-Sun, UCF holds a 7-10, 5-2 A-Sun record. The team dropped its last two matches in conference play to Georgia State and Mercer. It was the first time in program history that Mercer defeated UCF.

The Golden Knights have won eight straight meetings versus the Owls. The last time that FAU defeated the reigning A-Sun Champs was in the championship match of the A-Sun Tournament in 1999 as FAU claimed its second conference title.

UCF is led by three 2003 A-Sun Second Team members. Emily Watts leads the team with 146 kills for an offense that is hitting .161 as a team. Tanya Jarvis has 20 service aces for a team that averages 1.71 aces per game. It is one of two categories that the Golden Knights lead their opponents. The other category is blocking where Amanda Stoutjesdyk has added 54 blocks for a team that started the season 0-7 against some tough competition. Since that time the team has posted a 7-3 mark.

Bethune-Cookman holds a four-match winning streak through Sunday but will face UCF on Tuesday night. The Wildcats hold a 10-7 record and are led by Melissa Sanders 187 kills and .263 hitting percentage. Megan Myers runs the offense and has 545 assists for a 9.40 assists per game average.

FAU has never lost to B-CC and holds a 24-0 series record over the Wildcats after defeating them 3-0 earlier this season.

A-Sun Player-of-the-Week Cayse Kaveny's 68 blocks leads FAU and libero Makra Condill adds to the Owls' defense with 352 digs. Offensively, Iana Andonova leads the team and conference with 4.48 kills per game and a .351 hitting percentage. Courtenay Kiebert runs the offense and averages 11.14 assists per game.

FAU's 17 wins ties the team for the most wins in a Division I season with the 1999 team that finished the year at 17-13.