Owls Bounce Back with Sweep Over Rice

Friday, October 18

Boca Raton, Fla.

6 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

11-8,3-4AAC

Rice

11-6,6-2AAC

Rice

Fla. Atlantic

Photo by: Rick De Paiva

10/18/2024 11:16:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic Owls earned a huge win on Friday, knocking off the second-ranked team in the American Athletic Conference, sweeping the Rice Owls 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-21) inside Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.

The Owls improve to 11-8 overall and 3-4 in AAC play, and Rice drops to 11-6 overall and 6-2 in conference play.

FLORIDA ATLANTIC 3 – RICE 0

The Florida Atlantic Owls jumped out to a 3-5 lead early. Rice continued to battle within a point through a 12-11 Florida Atlantic lead, however, the Owls scored three unanswered to take a 15-11 lead at the first set media timeout. Victoria Hensley dumped it over for the kill to cap off a 3-2 Florida Atlantic run, which sparked Rice's first timeout of the contest as Florida Atlantic pushed its lead to five, 18-13. Out of the timeout, Rice rallied to cut the deficit to two, 19-17, following a 4-1 run. The Rice Owls continued to pressure Florida Atlantic, eventually tying up the set at 23 all, however, the Owls retook the lead after a Rice attack error, and a kill from Valeria Rosado eventually clinched the set as Florida Atlantic took the opening set, 25-23.

Rice took an early advantage in the second, jumping out to a 6-5 lead. However, another kill from Rosado sparked a 6-0 Florida Atlantic run as the Owls took the 11-6 lead. Rice battled back to cut the Florida Atlantic lead to two, 17-15, but the Owls capitalized on back-to-back Rice errors to extend their lead back to four, 19-15. Florida Atlantic eventually held set point at 24-17. Rice then rallied, scoring five unanswered to close back within two, 24-22, but Madison Dyer clutched up with a kill to close out the set, giving Florida Atlantic the 25-22 win and the two-set advantage, 2-0.

The Rice Owls scored four unanswered to open the third, 4-0, however, the Florida Atlantic Owls answered back with four of their open to even up the set at 4-4. Rice answered back, going on an 8-4 run, before the Owls called a timeout trailing by four, 12-8. Rice maintained a three-point advantage through a 14-11 lead, but the Owls scored four unanswered to take their first lead of the set at 15-14, sparking a Rice timeout. Rice brought the set even once again at 17-17, however, Florida Atlantic answered back yet again, scoring three unanswered to lead 20-17 as Rice called its second timeout of the frame. The Owls went on a 4-2 run to hold set point at 24-19. Rice got two back off a pair of Florida Atlantic errors, but Kayla Richardson scored the Owls' final point off a kill to clinch the 25-21 win and seal the 3-0 sweep.

Winning view 🤩#WinningInParadise pic.twitter.com/NNUbKBsBlh
— Florida Atlantic Volleyball (@FAUVolleyball) October 19, 2024

COACH NELSON QUOTABLE

"Super proud of our kids. After losing three games and then needing to play Rice, a really good volleyball team, we kept telling them that it's about us. That we needed to play tough and that we need to be able to enjoy, you got to want to be that kid that wants to finish the game. I thought that they played with a lot of personality, and they were disciplined. Super super proud."

STATS & NOTES

Kaila Ru and Katelynn Robine led the Owls in the match, tallying nine kills each, and Ru finished hitting an impressive .444 for the match. The duo also tied for a match-high four blocks each in the win.
Victoria Hensley finished with a match-high 32 assists.
Isabelle Northam and Brianna Anderson both notched double-figure digs in the win, recording 12 and 11 digs, respectively.

UP NEXT

The Florida Atlantic Owls remain at home on Sunday as they prep to host conference leader, South Florida. First serve is set for 1 p.m. inside Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.

FOLLOW THE OWLS

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