Owls fall on Friday in straight-set battle at ECU

Friday, September 29

Greenville, N.C.

6 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

9-8,1-3AAC

ECU

12-3,3-1AAC

Fla. Atlantic

East Carolina

Photo by: Keira Arimenta

9/29/2023 9:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – After battling through three really tight sets, the Florida Atlantic Owls (9-8, 1-3 AAC) dropped a straight-set battle against the ECU Pirates (12-3, 3-1 AAC) on Friday in Greenville.

Florida Atlantic 0 – ECU 3

Valeria Rosado led the Owls with a team-high 12 kills, on a .200 clip, and recorded her second double-double of the season while also posting 10 digs. Victoria Hensley led the Owls with 22 assists and Noelle Stephens dished out 17. Isabelle Northam tallied a team-leading 16 digs and Lauryn Green led the Owls in blocks, tying for a math-high with four, including two solo blocks.

After opening the match on a 6-4 run, the Owls flexed their muscles after a 6-1 run to double up the Pirates in the opening set at 12-6 after back-to-back kills from Alicia Hearn. Florida Atlantic maintained an advantage through a 24-22 lead, however, ECU locked down the Owls' offense as the Pirates closed the opening frame on a 5-1 run to capture the 27-25 win.

The Pirates opened the second on a 10-3 run to spark an early Florida Atlantic timeout. The Owls regrouped out of the timeout to answer back on a 10-7 run of their own to cut the Pirates lead to four after a Green kill. The Owls continued to battle back, eventually bringing the set even at 23 after an ECU attack error. However, the Pirates were able to score back-to-back points to close out the set and take the two-set advantage, 25-23.

Florida Atlantic called another timeout in the third after ECU took a 7-4 lead to open the frame, but the Owls scored three unanswered out of the timeout to even the set at seven after a kill from Hearn. The Owls and Pirates continued to battle back-and-forth as the third remained locked even through a 19-19 stalemate. After four unanswered for the Pirates made it 23-19, the Owls continued to battle outscoring ECU 4-2 over the final points of the match, but it just wasn't enough as the Pirates took the third 25-23 to close out the straight-set match, 3-0.

Up Next

The Owls will return to the hardwood tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 30 as they look to close out the weekend series against the Pirates at 12 p.m. inside Minges Coliseum.

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