With six Northeast Conference matches left in the 2011 campaign, the Fairleigh Dickinson women's volleyball team has a chance to make moves in the conference standings with matches this weekend against Central Connecticut State on Saturday and Sacred Heart on Sunday. Both contests will begin at 1 p.m. at Stratis Arena in Hackensack, NJ.

The Knights (15-9, 5-5 NEC) currently sit in fifth place in the NEC and are set to take on fourth-place CCSU (15-9, 6-4 NEC) and second-place Sacred Heart (18-7, 8-2 NEC) for the team's annual Dig Pink Event to raise breast cancer awareness.

FDU has alternated wins and losses in its last six matches, most recently dropping a 3-0 home decision to Long Island on Wednesday. Freshman Chelsea Braga (Long Beach, NY/Long Beach ) and junior Meaghan Wheeler (Chatsworth, CA/Chaminade College Prep) paced the Knights' offense on the night with seven kills apiece, while senior Sarah Willey (Abingdon, MD/Bel Air) dished out 17 assists.

Wheeler, who ranks first in the NEC with 4.72 kills per set, sits third in program history with 1,249 career kills. The Chatsworth, CA native is fast approaching Lauren Boothby's record of 1,506.
The veteran-laden Knights' squad has been led on defense by senior Sarah Berkland (Newton, MA/Newton North)'s 75 blocks and fellow senior Kelsey Semler (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic)'s 428 digs. Semler also leads the NEC with 4.81 digs per set.

The Knights have played CCSU twice already this season and SHU once. In just its third match of the season, FDU took on CCSU at the Beanpot Classic in Boston, MA. Wheeler recorded her second double-double of the year with 11 kills and 15 digs, but the Blue Devils were able to pick up a 3-0 win behind 10 blocks and 32 kills on the day.

In FDU/CCSU round two on Oct. 15, the Knights again fell by a 3-0 margin as the Blue Devils put together a .283 hitting percentage. CCSU's offensive runs through Danielle Gasser, who is second in the NEC with 10.44 assists per set.

The Blue Devils enter the weekend having defeated Harford, 3-2, on Wednesday. Before that, the team had suffered 3-1 road losses in NEC play to Sacred Heart and Bryant.  

When the Knights made the trip to Fairfield, CT to play SHU on Sept. 24, Willey's match-high 25 assists were not enough to propel her team to victory, as SHU claimed a 3-0 victory. Kimmee Roleder, the Pioneers' leader with 360 kills on the season, added 12 to her total in the match.

The defending NEC champions began conference play with six wins a row, only one of which went to five sets. The Pioneers have hit a bump in the road, however, going 2-2 in their last four matches. On Oct. 15, SHU suffered a 3-1 setback at the hands of Robert Morris for its first conference loss since Nov. 7, 2010.

Most recently, the Pioneers lost to LIU by a 3-0 score on Sunday, Oct. 23, despite having five players with double-digit kills led by Roleder's 16.
  
Next week, the Knights will travel to Brooklyn, NY to square off with St. Francis NY on Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m.