BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic Owls (15-11, 7-6 AAC) captured a four-set win in their series opener against the Memphis Tigers (8-18, 4-10 AAC) on Friday evening at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
Arianna Beckham and
Valeria Rosado led the Owls against Memphis, both recording a double-double in the win. Beckham tallied a team-leading 13 kills and added a team-best 16 digs, while Rosado posted 12 kills and 13 kills.
Kaila Ru also tallied double-digit kills with 11 wins and hitting an incredible .846 with two blocks and a pair of digs.
Victoria Hensley tallied a team-leading 43 assists, while narrowly missing a double-double with eight digs.
After battling through a 5-5 tie to open the match, the Owls scored five unanswered to double up the Tigers early, 10-5, after back-to-back kills from
Katelynn Robine. Memphis answered back on a 3-0 run to cut the Owls' lead to two, 10-8, however Florida Atlantic then produced a 9-0 run to push the Owls' lead back out to 11, 19-8. The Tigers got back within nine after a 4-2 run, but the Owls closed the opening set on a 4-0 run, capped off by a kill from
Arianna Beckham, to take the opening 1-0 lead, 25-12.
The Tigers scored four unanswered to open the second, 4-0. Memphis maintained the lead through 11-8 before the Owls scored three unanswered off a trio of attack errors to even up the set at 11. Things remained even through a 19-19 tie after a Tiger kill, but the Owls closed the set on a 6-2 to win the second 25-21 and extend the Owls lead to 2-0.
The Owls took the early lead in the third, but the Tigers responded to take the lead. Florida Atlantic battled back to even the set at 12-12 and 13-13, but Memphis went on a 5-0 run to push its lead back to five, 18-13. The Owls went on a 6-3 run to cut the deficit down to just three at 21-19, however Memphis scored four unanswered to close out the set and force a fourth, 25-19.
Memphis opened the fourth on a 5-3 run to take the opening lead, but the Owls answered back with six unanswered to retake the lead, 9-5. The Owls outscored the Tigers 15-12 to eventually hold match-point at 24-17. Memphis produced a 3-0 run to bring the fourth within four at 24-20, however a kill from
Kaila Ru closed out the set 25-20 to capture the four-set win, 3-1.
The Owls will close out their two-match series against the Memphis Tigers on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. ET.
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