Nov. 17, 2005

After posting a 27-2 record and going undefeated in Atlantic Sun Conference play, three Florida Atlantic University volleyball players earned First-Team All-Conference honors. Along with the honors, Kelly Paiva was named the conference Player of the Year and Katie Arvidson was chosen as Freshman of the Year. Guiding his team to the best season in school history, Jody Brown was picked the A-Sun Coach of the Year.

A senior from Minas Gerais, Brazil, Paiva received an unprecedented five A-Sun Player-of-the-Week honors during the season. The outside hitter posted five matches with 30 kills and finished with 21 double-doubles on the year. Paiva leads the A-Sun and is ranked second in the nation in kills per game with 5.87. She also ranks fifth in service aces per game in the A-Sun and is second on the team with 41 aces.

With 608 kills on the year, Paiva also broke the FAU single season record for kills, smashing the old record of 483 set in 2004. In only two seasons she ha posted 1043 kill to rank seventh in the career category.

Earning Freshman-of-the-Year honors and First-Team All-Conference, Katie Arvidson (Franklin, TN) holds the highest hitting percentage in the conference at .331. She is second on the squad with 348 kills (3.38 kill/game).The middle blocker also adds 0.94 blocks per game and has 36 service aces on the year.

Freshman setter, Casey LaRocca earned first-team honors by leading the A-Sun in assists per game with 12.34. She also guided FAU to the highest hitting percentage in the league at .257. LaRocca has also contributed 33 service aces and 168 digs in her rookie season.

The Owls enter the Atlantic Sun Tournament on Friday as the no. 1 seed after claiming their second consecutive A-Sun regular season title. The team opens play on Friday against the winner of the Lipscomb/Mercer match after receiving a first round bye. FAU has advanced to the semifinals of the tournament in each of the last 10 seasons.

Fans can follow live game action of this weekend's tournament by visiting www.fausports.com and clicking on the volleyball schedule page. On the date of the game fans can find a link for live stats and a live webcast.