Nov. 12, 2002

After claiming a spot in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament midway through the conference season, the Florida Atlantic University volleyball team could only sit back and wait to find out their first round opponent. After teams fought for positioning in the last week of conference play, the final three spots were decided by only one match.

The final brackets are now set for the A-Sun Tournament that will be hosted by the University of Central Florida, November 22-23. The field will consist of UCF, Georgia State, Florida Atlantic, Jacksonville State, Jacksonville and Troy State. The Lady Owls (13-15, 3-8 A-Sun) received a no. 3 seed and will take on no. 6 Troy State on Friday, November 22, at 1 pm.

When the two teams met earlier this season, the Lady Owls squeezed out a five-game victory over TSU in Troy, AL. FAU's only conference losses were to UCF, GSU and Jacksonville. JU used a late surge in the last two matches to earn a spot in the tournament by upsetting FAU and handing UCF its only conference loss of the season.

After winning the conference tournament in 1998 and 1999, Florida Atlantic hopes to make a return trip to the NCAA tournament by winning its third A-Sun Tournament.

Action will start at UCF Arena at 11 am on Nov. 22 as Jacksonville State takes on Jacksonville with the FAU-TSU match to follow. The evening session will feature the semifinal matches with UCF and GSU as the two teams receiving byes with their no. 1 and 2 seeds.