Monday, September 12, 2005

Macon, Ga. – Florida Atlantic’s Kelly Paiva is on a roll. Each week, she gets progressively better as does her team’s undefeated record. The Atlantic Sun conference office today announced she earned A-Sun Player of the Week honors for the third consecutive week.

For the third week, Paiva (Minas Gerais, Brazil/Criminal Justice) earned MVP honors at a tournament. The senior outside hitter tallied a career-high 34 kills against Eastern Washington in four games and finished the weekend with 67 kills (6.60 kills/game) and a .331 hitting percentage. She added 27 digs and five blocks as she guided the Owls to a 9-0 record, the program’s best start in Division I. The team defeated USF, Eastern Washington and Appalachian State.

Entering the weekend she was ranked 27th in the nation with 5.17 kills per game and raised the number to 5.64 after the three wins. She leads the Atlantic Sun Conference in kills, kills per game and points.

The Atlantic Sun Conference announces the Player of the Week every Monday during the 2005 volleyball campaign.

The 11-member league headquartered in Macon, Ga., consists of Belmont, Campbell, ETSU, Florida Atlantic, Gardner-Webb, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, Mercer, North Florida and Stetson.

Honorable Mention: Audra Harrison (Gardner-Webb), Petya Borisova (Jacksonville), Sarah Buhr (ETSU), Lindsey Rutherford (Lipscomb), Jackie Viren (Mercer), DeeAnn Dempsey (Stetson).