Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Florida Atlantic's Kelly Paiva added another honor to her senior season accolades. The outside hitter was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) South Region Team after leading FAU to a 29-3 record and an Atlantic Sun Conference Title.

The team advanced to the program's third NCAA Tournament in 2005 before falling to the No. 8 seed, University of Florida in Gainesville.

A native of Minas Gerais, Brazil, Paiva is ranked second in the nation with 5.94 kills per game. She broke the FAU single season kills record with 674 and was named Atlantic Sun All-Conference (first team) and Conference Player of the Year. She is the second Owl to earn the honor.

Paiva is also listed among AVCA's 30-kill club, registering 31 or more kills on six occasions. She leads the league in kills and points, while FAU leads in six of eight categories, including hitting percentage, kills, and blocks.

A transfer student from Southern Idaho, Paiva racked up 1,109 kills, 72 aces, 730 digs and 109 blocks in her two-year career with the Owls.

In 2004, teammate Iana Andonova was named the A-Sun Player of the Year and is the only other player in the league to have been selected to the All-Region Team.

Portions of release courtesy of FAU Athletic Communications