Kelly Paiva completed her fifth 30-kill match of the season as Florida Atlantic
University knocked off Belmont University when two undefeated teams in the Atlantic
Sun Conference squared off in Nashville on Saturday evening.
FAU held off the Bruins 27-30, 30-21, 26-30, 30-23, 15-12 to improve to 21-2,
5-0 A-Sun, while Belmont drops to 17-11, 5-1 A-Sun.
The Bruins came out in game one with a strong offense as the team hit .405 to
gain the early advantage. They relinquished the momentum in game two by connecting
on only nine kills and committing nine errors. After trading the next two games,
the match came down to the wire at 11-11 in game five.
The Owls then went on a 4-1 run to close out the match with two of Paiva's 33
kills and a service ace from Katie Arvidson. Arvidson finished with a match-high
four aces for FAU. The team finished with a season-high 12 service aces in the
win. Florida Atlantic also managed 16 kills and 21 digs more than their counterparts.
Arvidson, Justine Petry and Janelle Sarauw each finished with double-digit kills
to lead the offense along with Paiva. Eighteen digs from Dimitra Samas and Makra
Condill paced the defense and Paiva completed a double-double with 16 digs of
her own.
Middle blockers Petry and Arvidson both finished with five blocks to keep the
Bruins' offense in check with a .239 team hitting percentage.
Lindsay Cleveland led Belmont with 21 kills, while Ashley Collier finished with
24 digs as the team dropped its first A-Sun match of the season.
FAU's record against Belmont remains perfect as the Owls have won all five meetings
against the team since the Bruins joined the conference in 2001.
Traveling across town, FAU will face Lipscomb University on Saturday in Nashville
at 4:00 pm et. Belmont will make the short trip to Johnson City to take on ETSU
at 2:00ct.