Owls late rally falls short at No. 22 Rice

Sunday, October 2

Houston, Texas

2 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

-106,04 CUSA

Rice

-141,40 CUSA

Fla. Atlantic

Rice

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

10/2/2022 5:49:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

HOUSTON, Texas – Florida Atlantic University volleyball (10-6, 0-4 C-USA) rallied late, but it just wasn't enough as the Owls fell against the No. 22-ranked Rice Owls (14-1, 4-0 C-USA) in a four-set battle, 3-1 (18-25, 14-25, 26-24, 17-25), at Tudor Fieldhouse.

FAU opened the contest on a 4-1 run to quickly take a lead over the Rice Owls. Rice battled back to eventually bring things even at 10-10. A kill from Katelynn Robine kept the Owls within a point at 16-15, however Rice closed out the opening frame on a 9-3 run to take a 1-0 lead, 25-18.

Early in the second, the Owls held a 4-3 lead over Rice. Robine hammered down another kill to keep the Owls within four at 12-8, but FAU just couldn't keep up with Rice in the second as the Rice Owls outscored FAU 13-6 through the remainder of the second frame to give Rice a 2-0 advantage, 25-14.

The Owls looked to avoid the sweep in the third. The two programs traded runs to a 6-6 stalemate early in the third. The frame remained even through a 9-9 tie before Rice outscored FAU 4-3 to retake a 13-12 lead. FAU kept the third within two off a kill from Arianna Beckham at 19-17, but Rice continued to find an answer as the Rice Owls went on a 5-1 run to hold match-point at 24-18. However, the Owls were not going down without a fight, scoring eight unanswered points that was capped by a service ace from Robine to secure the 26-24 win for FAU and force a fourth set, 2-1.

Rice opened the fourth with four-straight points, but a FAU challenged reversed the call on the floor to cut the FAU deficit to three, 4-1. Rice extended its lead to 10-1 before a 7-1 FAU run brought the Owls back within three at 11-8. FAU kept the set within three at a Rice 15-12 lead, but the Rice Owls were just a little too much for FAU as they outscored FAU 10-5 to close out the fourth and take the four-set win, 3-1.

Stat Leaders

Kills: Valeria Rosado - 15
Assists: Noelle Stephens - 25
Digs: Camryn Vogler - 16
Blocks: Lauryn Green & Valeria Rosado - 2
Aces: Katelynn Robine - 2

Set-by-Set

Set 1: FAU 18, No. 22 Rice 25
Set 2: FAU 14, No. 22 Rice 25
Set 3: FAU 26, No. 22 Rice 24
Set 4: FAU 17, No. 22 Rice 25

Match Notes

Rosado led the Owls with a team-high 15 kills
Lauryn Green led the Owls with a team-best .375 hitting percentage and tied for the team-lead in blocks with two
Camryn Vogler tallied a team-best 16 digs

Up Next

FAU will close out its three-game road trip on Friday, Oct. 7 as the Owls visit the Charlotte 49ers. First serve is set for 6 p.m. ET.