Miami is a town known for its beaches, nightlife and Latin culture.
This weekend, it becomes the hub for a Sun Belt Conference East Division shindig that will clear up who is atop the standings.
A self-proclaimed “underdog” by coach Danijela Tomic, Florida International hosts Middle Tennessee State and Western in a weekend that will showcase the East’s top three teams.
The Lady Toppers (17-4, 6-0 Sun Belt East Division) play FIU tomorrow night at Pharmed Arena. MTSU plays FIU (11-4, 6-2 SBC East) Saturday night.
MTSU (19-1, 6-0 SBC East) and Western then turn around and play at 7 p.m. Monday in Diddle Arena.
“I think it starts clearing it a little bit,” Western coach Travis Hudson said. “There’s a lot of volleyball to be played.”
Western was picked by the Sun Belt coaches as the preseason underdog amongst the three teams. MTSU is sitting on the fringe of the AVCA Top 25 poll and FlU comes off losing two straight to Denver and North Texas last weekend.
Historically, Western has dominated both teams, losing just six times in 38 matches against MTSU.
The Lady Toppers have gone 17-4 against the Golden Panthers. But the Lady Toppers have not had much success recently against either team. The Blue Raiders beat Western 3-1 in Bowling Green in the last regular season match of the year.
FIU ended Western’s season in the Sun Belt Tournament last year and beat the Lady Toppers in Miami.
With MTSU nearing the top-25, coach Matt Peck said he is not worried about the fact they probably have the biggest target on their back.
“I don’t think our team thinks about that,” Peck said. “I think teams tend to get up to play us.”
Hudson said that he realizes the weekend is going to be a measuring stick for where they stand in the East right now.
“The challenge is certainly there for us over the next seven days,” Hudson said.
For FIU, Tomic said that her team has to be mentally tough over the weekend and turn last weekend into something positive by learning from it.
“We realize the changes we have to make and the team is motivated to work hard,” Tomic said.
Offensively, all three teams bring plenty of power. Western leads the conference with an overall hitting percentage of .290. MTSU and FIU follow with hitting percentages of .285 and .261, respectively.
Hudson said that the Lady Toppers are not playing particularly well right now.
“This isn’t a stretch in our schedule where we can afford to do that,” Hudson said. “Sometimes you have to win ugly in those stretches where you’re not playing well and our kids have found a way to do that.”
Western was taken to the brink by Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday night, eventually winning 3-2.
And if this weekend doesn’t clear up the standings well enough, FIU travels to Bowling Green on Oct. 26 before the Lady Toppers end their regular season schedule at MTSU on Nov. 10.
Reach Andrew Robinson at sports@chherald.com.
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