St. Thomas University will induct current Louisiana State and former Bobcats baseball coach Paul Mainieri as the fourth member of its Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 1.

``I will always be grateful to the university for hiring me at a young age and allowing me to develop a winning program,'' Mainieri said. ``It was a tremendous experience that started me on the path to a very rewarding career. I am extremely honored and humbled to receive this recognition from St. Thomas.''

During his time at St. Thomas (1983-88), Mainieri had four of his teams ranked in the NCAA Division II top 10, and 15 of his players entered professional baseball.

After his time in Miami Gardens, Mainieri spent six years coaching Air Force and 12 years at Notre Dame before taking the helm at LSU in 2007. Mainieri led the Tigers to the College World Series title last summer.

For his efforts last season, Mainieri was named Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year. The American Baseball Coaches Association also honored Mainieri as its 2009 National Coach of the Year.

Mainieri, who is also an alum of the STU graduate sports administration program, will join Ken Stibler, Marinka Bisceglia and John Batule in the school's Hall of Fame.

Stibler, the university's founding athletic director and the first men's basketball coach, complied 216 wins as a coach. Bisceglia, a first-team Academic All-American as a member of the softball team, had a .400 career batting average and 10 strikeouts per game as a pitcher. Batule, a member of the men's basketball team was the second leading scorer for Bobcats with 1,698 points and had the most free throws made with 428.

The event will be held on campus at the Fernandez Family Center for Leadership & Wellness. Tickets for the event can be purchased online at alumni.stu.edu/stonecrabdinner or by calling 305-628-6677.

FIU

The Golden Panthers volleyball team increased its vote total in the AVCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll for the second consecutive week and moved two spots in the NCAA Women's Volleyball RPI.

FIU (19-2) received nine votes in last week's national poll. This week, the Panthers received 19 votes. In the release of the first NCAA Women's Volleyball RPI rankings a week ago, FIU ranked 18th in the nation. The Panthers have now moved up the list to No. 16.

FIU junior setter Natalia Valentin ranks second in the nation in assists per set with a mark of 12.14. Penn State's Alisha Glass leads with 12.28 assist per set.

As a team, FIU is averaging 13.71 assists per set, which is sixth in the nation. FIU is also ranked fifth in kills per set with a mark of 14.87.

• The FIU wrestling team won medals in three events at the Florida A&M Venom Open last Saturday.

Camilo Rodriquez won the 149-pound championship. Nayibsast Perez took the silver medal in the 158-pound division, and Raul Dominguez won the bronze in the 174-pound division.

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN

Nova Southeastern forward Stephanie Sarosi was one of 16 players named to the Women's Division II Bulletin Preseason All-America Basketball team. The Sharks women's basketball team was voted third in the Sunshine State Conference Preseason Poll. NSU amassed 104 points and received three first-place votes in the poll.