Date Posted: 11/27/2005

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 seed Gators on December 1 at 7:30 pm at the O'Connell Center. Kansas State and Florida A&M round out the four-team bracket.

Going undefeated in the Atlantic Sun Conference and 29-2 overall, FAU defeated Belmont in the A-Sun Championship last week to take the league's automatic bid for the third time.

Led by senior outside hitter Kelly Paiva, the Owls rank 16th nationally in aces, 5th in win-loss percentage and have the national kills leader in Paiva, averaging 5.97 k/pg. The A-Sun Player of the Year was named to the All-Tournament team and All-Conference team. Freshman of the Year Katie Arvidson leads the league in hitting percentage (.328), and All-Conference team member Casey LaRocca leads the A-Sun in assists per game with 12.49 a/pg.

As a team, Florida Atlantic leads the league in hitting percentage (.256), assists (13.83), kills (15.45), blocks (2.38) and service aces (2.19). The Owls are also on a 13-game winning streak.

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

Game times and ticket information are not yet available. Please check www.fausports.com for all updates.

Portions of release courtesy of Florida Atlantic Athletic Communications.

Related Links:
 • NCAA Tournament Bracket