Owls Split on Opening Day of Florida Atlantic Invitational

Friday, August 30

Boca Raton, Fla.

12 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

0-1,0-0AAC

Bryant

1-0,0-0America East

Bryant

Fla. Atlantic

8/30/2024 11:10:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic Owls kicked off their 2024 season on Friday, falling against Bryant, 3-2, but closing the day with their first sweep of the season over Seton Hall, 3-0, inside Eleanor R. Baldwin arena.

The Owls moved to 1-1 after the two season-opening matches, while Bryant went 1-0 and Seton Hall fell to 0-2 on the day.

FLORIDA ATLANTIC 2 – BRYANT 3

The Owls opened the day against Bryant. The Bulldogs grabbed an early 4-2 lead before the Owls battled back to take their first lead of the day at 5-4 following a pair of Bulldog attack errors and a kill from Victoria Hensley. The Owls brought things back even at 14-14, but the Bulldogs pulled away late in the set, closing the first on an 11-3 run to take the opening 1-0 lead, 25-17.
Florida Atlantic flipped the script in the second. The Owls sprinted out of the gate, opening the set on a 7-4 run, capped off by a Kayla Richardson kill. Bryant got one back, but the Owls responded with a dominant 11-2 run to take a decisive 18-7 advantage. The Bulldogs scored two, but it was too little too late as the Owls finished on a 7-1 run, with a kill from Natalie Depaula closing out the impressive 25-10 win and evening the match up at 1-1.
The Owls continued the momentum into the third set, opening the frame on a dominant 9-1 run. Bryant scored four unanswered to close within 9-5, however, the Owls kicked the lead back out with six of their own to lead 15-5 after a pair of kills from Valeria Rosado. Florida Atlantic pushed the lead to 13 at 19-6, before a Bulldog rally brought things back within seven, 23-15. But a kill and an ace from Katelynn Robine closed out the third as the Owls took a 2-1 lead, 25-15.
Bryant scored seven unanswered to open the third. The Owls continued to battle, closing within four at 18-14, but the Bulldogs eventually took the fourth, 25-19, to send the match to a fifth, 2-2.
The Owls went on an 8-5 run to open the fifth, capped off by a Robine kill and an ace from Rosado. Florida Atlantic held the 11-8 advantage, but Bryant rallied to score seven unanswered and take the final set, 15-11, and the 3-2 win.

FLORIDA ATLANTIC 3 – SETON HALL 0

The Owls opened their nightcap on a 5-1 run to take the early lead. Florida Atlantic and Seton Hall battled back and forth throughout the opening frame, through a 20-16 Owl advantage. However, Florida Atlantic closed the first on a 5-1 run, capped off by a pair of kills from Rosado to win 25-17 and take the 1-0 lead.
Florida Atlantic scored six unanswered to open the second frame, but the Pirates answered back with a 5-0 run of their own to close within one, 6-5. Seton Hall eventually took the lead and held a 17-15 advantage late in the second. The Owls retook the lead 18-17 after a pair of Pirate errors. A pair of kills from Olivia Hart pushed the Owls back to a two-point advantage, 20-18, however, the Owls maintained their two-point advantage as they eventually captured the 25-23 win and the 2-0 match advantage.
The third opened to a 3-3 stalemate, before a 4-0 Florida Atlantic run gave the Owls a four-point lead, 7-3. Seton Hall brought things back within five at 16-11, but the Owls proved to be too much for the Pirates as they closed out the match with a 9-4 run, 25-15, to close out their first sweep of the season, 3-0.

UP NEXT

The Owls will look to close out their opening weekend strong on Saturday as they take on the Ball State Cardinals in the Florida Atlantic Invitational finale at 1 PM inside Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.

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