GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Embry-Riddle (12-9, 6-1) at St. Thomas (17-6, 8-0)
DATE: Friday, Oct. 24, 2014
CITY: Miami Gardens, Fla.
VENUE: Fernandez Family Center
START TIME: 7 p.m.Embry-Riddle (12-9) at Florida Memorial (0-14, 0-8)
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014
CITY: Hialeah, Fla.
VENUE: Hialeah High School
START TIME: 1 p.m.

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LIVE STATS: Stretch Internet

ABOUT EMBRY-RIDDLE
The Blue and Gold are 12-9 on the season after going 2-2 last week, falling to Cal State - San Marcos and Westmont while picking up wins over then-No. 19 Vanguard and The Master's. Embry-Riddle currently sits in second place in The Sun Conference with a 6-1 mark and are receiving 81 votes in the Tachikara-NAIA Coaches' Poll, just two spots outside the Top 25. The Eagles reached the NAIA National Tournament Final Site for the fourth consecutive season in 2013. Head Coach Josylnn Gallop is the winningest coach in program history, owning a 235-93 career record in this, her 10th season at the helm of the Eagles.

ERAU traveled to Santa Clarita, Calif. last weekend for four non-conference matches at The Master's College. The Eagles lost a pair of five-setters on Friday to CSUSM and Westmont, but the Blue and Gold rebounded for 3-1 victories over nationally-ranked Vanguard and the host Mustangs on Saturday. Tamires Ferreira was named The Sun Conference Player of the Week after racking up 165 assists, 44 digs, 23 kills, 13 blocks and 11 service aces in the four matches.

ABOUT ST. THOMAS
The Bobcats are 17-6 on the season and sit atop The Sun Conference with a perfect 8-0 record. STU received 16 votes in the coaches' poll this week, putting the Bobcats nine spots outside of the Top 25. St. Thomas had last weekend off; the week prior, STU went 2-2 at a tournament hosted by Davenport, defeating Ashford and Taylor while falling to Indiana Wesleyan and Davenport. Last night, STU was back in action, sweeping conference foe Florida Memorial.

St. Thomas ranks 41st nationally with 2.07 blocks/set, led by Samantha Garza's 94 blocks and 1.09 blocks/set, which ranks 29th individually. The Bobcats are at or near the top of most offensive statistical categories in The Sun Conference, including hitting percentage (.202, 1st), kills/set (12.1, 2nd) and assists/set (11.2/2nd). Whitney Battoe leads the team with 239 kills while Dana Nowaczyk ranks second in the league with 807 assists. Sydney Maynard has a team-high 308 digs, ranking fourth in the conference.

Last time the Eagles and Bobcats met, STU snapped ERAU's 76-match Sun Conference regular season winning streak, becoming the first team to beat Embry-Riddle in regular season since Webber International did it in 2008. Marisa Markus led the Bobcats to a 3-2 (25-23, 24-26, 25-23, 25-27, 15-10) win with 17 kills, while Nowaczyk had 57 assists and Maynard collected 32 digs. The match was a back-and-forth affair, featuring a total of 39 ties and eight lead changes. Jennifer Beatty paced the Blue and Gold with a career-high 28 kills, Ferreira tallied 60 assists and Hannah Gray notched 23 digs in the loss.

ABOUT FLORIDA MEMORIAL
The Lions are 0-14 this year and 0-8 in The Sun Conference. Florida Memorial's last victory came against Livingstone College on Sept. 7, 2013, while its last conference win was against Edward Waters on Oct. 18, 2008. The Lions played last night at home against St. Thomas, falling in three sets.

FMU is hitting .046 on the season, averaging 7.4 kills/set, 6.3 assists/set, 1.1 blocks/set and 9.1 digs/set. Arasy Guerra leads the team with 103 kills while Raechel Knowles has a team-high 25 blocks. Jessica Medina has picked up a team-leading 72 digs and Crystal Merrick leads the Lions with 89 assists.

Last time the Eagles and Lions met, ERAU won in three sets, 25-18, 25-13, 25-11. Beatty led all players with 11 kils while Ferreira collected match-highs in assists (28) and digs (8). Guerra led the Lions with seven kills while Jada Long tallied team-highs in assists (10) and digs (8).

BLUE AND GOLD AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
The Eagles have shown this season that they are among the best in the NAIA in kills, assists and blocks. Embry-Riddle is currently averaging 12.51 kills/set, the 37th-best average in the country. With 11.58 assists/set, ERAU ranks 32nd in the NAIA. ERAU has been a force at the net, averaging 2.10 blocks/set, ranking 36th in the nation.

GRAY DOMINANT DEFENSIVELY
Senior libero Hannah Gray has proven that she is one of the best defensive players in the country with her stellar play this season. Gray, last year's Sun Conference Libero of the Year, is currently averaging 6.21 digs/set, the fourth-highest average in the nation. On Aug. 30, the DeLand, Florida native racked up 46 digs, which is currently tied for the eighth-highest single-match total in the NAIA this year.

FERREIRA DOING IT ALL
Junior setter Tamires Ferreira is out to prove that setters can do more than just rack up assists. She has done a great job circulating the ball while running the 5-1 offense for the Eagles, recording 814 assists for an average of 10.05 assists/set, which ranks her 22nd in the nation in that category. Ferreira totaled a career-high 60 assists against St. Thomas on Sept. 12, which is currently tied for the ninth-highest single-match total in the nation this season. In addition to setting, she has also collected a team-leading 51 service aces, ranking fifth in the NAIA with an average of 0.63 service aces/set. The junior has also been solid defensively, picking up 227 digs, second-best on the team. Ferreira has also proven to be an offensive threat herself, putting down 87 kills, the sixth-highest total on the team. The Barbacena, Brazil native also has 31 blocks on the season, ranking fifth on the Eagle squad.

BEATTY COMING UP BIG
Senior outside hitter Jennifer Beatty has been climbing the national leaderboard as of late, and currently ranks 42nd in the NAIA with 3.36 kills/set. Beatty leads the team with 221 kills, including a 28-kill effort against St. Thomas on Sept. 12, which is currently tied for the eighth-highest single-match total in the nation this season.

MILESTONE ACHIEVEMENT
Senior libero Hannah Gray entered the 2014 season on the hunt for a career milestone and a program record during the 2014 season. Gray surpassed Senia McIntyre's program record of 1,784 career digs in ERAU's victory over Southeastern on Oct. 10. Her 12th dig of that match, which came late in the second set, was her 1,785th of her career. Gray has led the team in digs in each of her two years at Embry-Riddle, including last year's single-season school-record 809 digs. Her career total currently stands at 1,897 digs.

PRESEASON FAVORITES
The Sun Conference coaches selected the Eagles to top the league's preseason poll, released in August. Embry-Riddle garnered seven first-place votes and 49 total points to claim the No. 1 spot in the poll, while St. Thomas came in second with one first-place votes and 41 total points.

20 SEASONS OF EAGLE VOLLEYBALL
The 2014 season marks the 20th edition of Eagle volleyball. Embry-Riddle is 439-247 all-time, capturing six regular season titles, five conference tournament titles and making four appearances at the NAIA National Championship.