Live Stats vs. St. Francis NY
Live Video vs. St. Francis NY
Live Stats vs. Sacred Heart 
Live Video vs. Sacred Heart

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson women's volleyball team will enter the heart of Northeast Conference play with a 1 p.m. home match against St. Francis NY on Saturday, Sept. 29, at Stratis Arena before taking on the defending NEC champion Sacred Heart Pioneers on Sunday, Sept. 30, at 2 p.m. at the Pitt Center in Fairfield, Conn.

Head Coach Stacey Recanati's Knights (5-10, 1-1 NEC) split a pair of home matches last weekend to kick off NEC action. On Sept. 22, FDU swept Quinnipiac, 3-0, then fell to Central Connecticut State, 3-1 the next day.

FDU has been led on offense by senior captain Meaghan Wheeler (Chatsworth, CA/Chaminade College Prep), who ranks 11th in the nation with 4.62 kills per set and ninth in the nation with 5.21 points per set. Both marks lead the NEC. Freshman Allison Butler (Plano, Texas/Plano) is currently sitting in third in the NEC with 499 assists, which is tops among freshman in the conference.

FDU will kick off this weekend against St. Francis NY (2-17, 0-2 NEC), a team the Knights beat twice last season.  Prior to the Terriers' 3-2 win over Fordham during their last match on Tuesday, they had dropped eight matches in a row.

Through 19 matches, St. Francis has two players with at least 100 kills in Slavica Stefanovic with 118 and Maggie Niu with 128. Compared to other NEC teams, St. Francis ranks eighth out of nine teams with a .113 hitting percentage, and allows opponents to hit .259, which is also eighth.

On Sunday, the Knights will square off with the reigning NEC champs Sacred Heart (3-13, 1-1 NEC), which will be playing at Bryant on Saturday. The Pioneers began the season with a 3-0 win over Holy Cross before falling in their next seven. A win over Dartmouth on Sept. 8 was followed by six more losses then a win their last time out against St. Francis NY.

FDU did not fare well against Sacred Heart in 2011, falling 3-0 in both matches against the Pioneers. This season, Sacred Heart ranks second in the NEC with 607 kills led by Alyssa Young with a team-best 161.

After this weekend, the Knights will travel to Smithfield, R.I. to take on Bryant in an NEC match on Sunday, Oct. 7, at 1 p.m.