Owls Fall to Marshall in Series Opener

Friday, October 8

Boca Raton, Fla.

1 PM

Florida Atlantic

-99,14 CUSA

Marshall

-612,23 CUSA

Marshall

Fla. Atlantic

10/8/2021 2:52:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University volleyball team (9-9, 1-4 C-USA) lost the opening match of their home series against Marshall (6-12, 2-3 C-USA) on Friday afternoon after a fine defensive showing by the Herd kept the Owls at bay over the course of three sets.

Christine Jarman led the Owls attack, finishing with 10 kills on 32 swings and seven digs while Noelle Stephens came into her own for 15 assists. However, the Herd were too much, too often for FAU, especially on defense as they rode 25 team blocks and a host of FAU miscues to victory.

How It Was Decided

Set 1
From the get go, the two teams looked evenly matched, though Marshall made it clear almost immediately that the moajority of their scoring would be done on defense. TFAU managed to keep things close as a kill by Alicia Hearn made it 10-8, Marshall. From there, Christine Jarman picked up pair of her five first set kills to draw within one at 12-11. However, from midway through set 1 and continuing throughout the remainder of the match, the Owls front line had much less room to work with than they were accustomed to, leading to errors and mishits and Marshall's defense stood strong. The Herd opened up a big lead at 18-13, enabling them to close out the first set, 25-21.

Set 2
Set 2 began much like the first, with neither team able to mount any big runs. The squads fought to a tie at 8-8 after multiple long rallies couldn't keep the momentum going for either side, which ended up greatly beneiftting Marshall as the visitors. However, the Herd once again found their stride midway through the set, going on a four point run to make the score 21-14. This put the Owls in too deep of a hole to recover set, and which Marshall won 25-18 to go up two sets to none.

Set 3
In set 3, Marshall found themselves with a big advantage early at 8-2, and would not relinquish their lead. The Owls kept firing from the front line with Lauryn Green, Robine, and Jarman taking big swings, but were unable to be effective against a side that leads the nation in total blocks. In the end, Marshall took the final set 25-13, winning the match in straight sets.

Of Note