Owls Drop Five-Set Heartbreaker at South Florida - Florida Atlantic University Athletics

Wednesday, October 21

Tampa, Fla.

6 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

13-7,6-3American

South Florida

6-13,5-4American

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Fla. Atlantic	25	25	23	16	13	2
South Fla.	20	14	25	25	15	3

10/21/2026 10:12:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

TAMPA, Fla. – Florida Atlantic volleyball's four-match winning streak came to an end on Wednesday as the Owls fell in a five-set road battle against South Florida, 3-2 (25-20, 25-14, 23-25, 16-25, 13-15), inside the Corral.

The Owls fall to 13-7 on the season and 6-3 in American play, while South Florida moves to 6-13 overall and 5-4 in league play.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Owls opened the match with four unanswered points to force an extremely early USF timeout. FAU extended its early lead, scoring three more after the timeout to open the match 7-0. FAU maintained a six-point advantage through a 14-8 lead, however, South Florida slowly chipped away at the Owls lead, cutting it to two at 14-12, before a Bull service error extended the lead back to three at the opening media break, 15-12. USF continued its run out of the media timeout, battling back within one to make it 16-15. However, the Owls answered back with six unanswered to push their advantage back to seven at 22-15. The Bulls went on another run to cut the FAU lead to four, 24-20, forcing an FAU timeout, but the Owls capitalized on a Bull serving error to claim the first 25-20 and take the opening 1-0 lead.

The Owls opened the second on 9-3 run to spark another early timeout from the Bulls.
Florida Atlantic continued the momentum after the break as the Owls eventually pushed their lead to nine after an ace from Isabelle Northam to hold a 15-6 advantage at the second set technical break. The Owls extended their lead to 11, 19-8, forcing USF to call its second timeout of the frame. After trading a few points back and forth through a 21-12 FAU lead, the Owls scored three unanswered to secure the set two set point at 24-12 after a kill from Sequoia Layne. The Bulls got two back to make it 24-14, however, Layne connected on her third kill of the set to close out the Owls' dominant 25-14 set two win and give FAU the 2-0 lead.

After battling through a close 8-7 USF lead to open the third, the Bulls went on a 7-3 run to hold a 15-10 advantage at the third set media break. The Owls started slowly battling back in the set, bringing the deficit back within three at 22-19. The Bulls pushed the lead back to four at set point, 24-20, however, the Owls scored three unanswered off a Libby Ashline kill, an ace from Hart, and a Bull's attacking error to make it 24-23. But an untimely service error for the Owls closed out the set as the Bulls took the third 25-23 to send the match to a fourth, 2-1.

FAU opened the fourth on a 3-2 run, but a quick response from the Bulls put USF in the lead 6-3. The Owls closed the gap to one after a strong block from Layne and Natalie Depaula, making it 6-5. However, the Bulls responded once again, going on a 5-2 run to make it 11-7 and spark an FAU timeout. Following the break, the Bulls maintained the momentum, extending their lead to six, taking a 15-9 lead at the fourth set media break. After a 21-12 USF lead, the Owls went on a 3-0 run, cutting the lead back to six at 21-15 and forcing the Bulls to call their first timeout of the set, but it was not enough as USF closed out the set on a 4-1 run to take the fourth 25-16 and force a final deciding fifth set, 2-2.

The Owls took the early lead in the fifth, 3-2, however the Bulls responded with an 8-4 run to spark a pair of Owl timeouts and take the lead 10-7. FAU answered back, rallying on a 3-1, capped off by a kill from Anna Hartman to battle back within one at 11-10 and spark USF to call a timeout. The Owls outscored the Bulls 3-2 out of the break to tie the fifth at 12-12 and 13-13 after back-to-back kills from Hartman, but a pair of FAU errors was the difference as the Bulls claimed the 15-13 win in the fifth to take the five-set battle, 3-2.

STATS & NOTES

Hart and Layne led the way for the Owls. Hart posted a team-best 14 kills and added nine digs, a block, and an ace, while Layne turned in 12 kills, hitting .375, along with a team-leading four blocks and an assist.
Van Heyst led the Owls in assists, dishing out 39 digs and added eight digs, five kills, a pair of aces, and a solo block.
Luye Marquez-Moreno and Northam paced the Owls back row, posting 14 and 13 digs, respectively.
As a team, the Owls dominated the Bulls at the service line, outpacing USF in service aces, 7-4, in addition to having only three service errors compared to 15 for the Bulls. The Owls also held an advantage in side out percentage, besting the Bulls 59.6 percent to 57.8 percent.

UP NEXT
The Owls return home on Friday as they get set to close out the week, hosting the Memphis Tigers for a 6 p.m. first serve on ESPN+ inside Abessinio Court at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.

FOLLOW THE OWLS
Keep up with everything Florida Atlantic volleyball at FAUSports.com and on social media on X, Instagram, and Facebook.

#WIP