Nov. 27, 2005

Florida Atlantic University will travel to the University of Florida for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Owls will face the no. 8 Gators on Thursday at 7:30 pm in the O'Connell Center. Kansas State and Florida A&M round out the four-team bracket.

"We pretty much knew we were going to Gainesville by the way they have been doing the seedings lately," said head coach Jody Brown. "I am really quite surprised that we are a fourth seed, but FAMU's win over Long Beach State on Saturday threw a cog in things."

The Gators (30-2) won their 12th SEC title this season and are on a nine-match winning streak heading into Thursday's match. They have only dropped three games during that streak and have not lost a match at home this season.

Averaging 3.39 kill per game, Kisya Killingsworth leads the team in kills per game and holds a .398 hitting percentage. Senior outside hitter, Jane Collymore was named the SEC Tournament MVP and has tallied 476 kills this season. She has also tallied 54 service aces to lead the squad.

Angie McGinnis runs the offense and is ranked 17th in the nation with 13.46 assists per game. The team is hitting .302 with 16.87 kills per game to rank in the top-10 in the nation in both categories.

FAU has only faced Florida once in program history. UF took a 3-0 victory in 2000 in Gainesville.

Former FAU player Suzie Fritz will lead her team, Kansas State, into the tournament with a 20-10 record. The no. 25 ranked Wildcats will face Florida A&M (22-5) on Thursday. The Owls played KSU in 2003 and the Wildcats left with a 3-1 victory in Tallahassee, FL.

FAU leads the all-time series against FAMU 6-0. The last meeting came in 1997 with the Owls winning 3-0.

By winning the Atlantic Sun Tournament, FAU earned the conference's automatic bid. The team holds the program's best record at 29-2 and has won their last 13 matches.

Ticket information
All-Session Pass
$10.00 adults
$6.00 students and senior citizens
$4.00 children 12 and under

Single-Session Pass
$7.00 adults
$5.00 students and senior citizens
$4.00 children 12 and under

For more information, contact the UAA Ticket Office at (352) 375-4683, ext. 6800 or 1-800-34GATOR, ext. 6800 (state of Florida only)