Aug. 30, 2010

Boca Raton, Fla. - Florida Atlantic University’s Athletic Department has started a Player of the Week Award to recognize outstanding athletic contributions by student-athletes on their sports teams throughout the 2010-11 athletic season.

Senior volleyball player Joanne Marras Tate is the first athlete to earn the Player of the Week Award after being named the most valuable player in last weekend’s Florida Gulf Coast University Invitational. She helped the Owls to a 3-0 record and tournament title.

Tate, a setter, had a total of 116 assists in the three matches. Her best match during the weekend came as she had 45 assists and a career-high 17 digs in a four-set victory over the host Eagles.

FAU’s volleyball team is off to its first 3-0 start since 2005, when it advanced to the NCAA tournament as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Owls will return to action on Tuesday, August 31 against the University of Miami in Coral Gables, starting at 6 p.m. The team will remain on the road when it travels for four matches at the Stetson University Invitational in DeLand, over the weekend. FAU will open the home schedule on September 21 against Florida Gulf Coast.

The FAU fall athletic season gets into full swing this Labor Day weekend as the football team opens the season on Thursday, September 2, at UAB, starting at 8 p.m.; the men’s soccer team has its first match of the season at Jacksonville University on Friday, September 3, at 7 p.m.; and the men’s and women’s cross country teams compete at the King of the Hill meet in Weston on Sunday, September 5. Meanwhile, the women’s soccer team hosts its home opener against Robert Morris University on Friday, starting at 7 p.m., before playing Fresno State University on Sunday at 10 a.m. at the FAU Soccer Stadium.