Owls Rally for Reverse Sweep over Memphis - Florida Atlantic University Athletics

Friday, October 23

Boca Raton, Fla.

6 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

14-7,7-3American

Memphis

7-13,2-7American

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Memphis	25	25	22	23	8	2
Fla. Atlantic	23	23	25	25	15	3

10/23/2026 10:02:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic Owls earned another thrilling five-set win on Friday, rallying to secure a reverse sweep over the Memphis Tigers, 3-2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-8) on Abessinio Court at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.

With the win, FAU improves to 14-7 on the season and 7-3 in American play, while Memphis falls to 7-13 overall and 2-7 in league play.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Owls and Tigers battled back and forth to open the match. After fighting through a 14-14 tie to open the match, Libby Ashline connected on her second kill of the day to give the Owls the 15-14 lead at the opening media break. The Owls continued the momentum out of the break, scoring three unanswered to extend their scoring run to 4-0, forcing Memphis to call a timeout at 18-14. The Tigers responded on a 5-1 run to tie up the set at 19. The Owls jumped back in front 20-19 after a Tiger service error, but Memphis then scored five unanswered to hold set point at 24-20. The Owls started to rally off a 3-0 run, capped off by a kill from Sequoia Layne, to battle back within one at 24-23, however Memphis closed out the set with a kill to take the first set, 25-23.

Memphis opened the second on a 4-1 run to force an early timeout from the Owls. FAU kept battling back and forth with the Tigers, closing the gap to two at 8-6. The Owls kept things close through a 14-12 Memphis advantage, but the Tigers pushed their lead back to three at the second set technical break, 15-12. FAU and Memphis traded points as the Tigers maintained their three-point lead through a 23-20 advantage. Sara Gamboa tallied back-to-back kills to bring FAU back within one at 23-22 and force a Memphis timeout. The Owls capitalized on a Tiger attacking error to tie up the set at 23, however, an FAU service error and a Memphis ace closed out the set 25-23 as the Tigers took the 2-0 lead.

After battling through an 8-7 FAU lead to open the third, Memphis scored three unanswered to take a 10-8 lead and spark FAU's first timeout. The Owls answered back, going on a 7-3 run to retake the lead 15-13 at the third set technical break. The Tigers tied things up at 18-18 and 19-19, however the Owls went on a 3-0 run off a pair of kills from Gamboa and one from Layne to take a 22-19 lead and force Memphis to call its first timeout of the third. FAU held set point at 24-20 after an ace from Kierstin Bevelle. The Tigers got two back but a Memphis service error closed out the set as the Owls took the 25-22 win to send the match to a fourth, 2-1.

The Owls opened the fourth strong, producing a 7-3 run to force Memphis to call an early timeout. FAU maintained its four-point advantage through a 15-11 lead at the fourth set media break. The Owls extended their lead to five, leading 18-13 after a block assist from Maya Van Heyst and Ashline, however the Tigers recorded three unanswered to force the Owls to call a timeout leading by two, 18-16. Back-to-back kills from Gamboa sparked a 5-1 FAU run to push the Owls' lead to six at 23-17. A late Memphis run cut the Owls' advantage to just one at 23-22, however, the Owls outscored the Tigers 2-1 to close out the set, taking the 25-23 win to force a final deciding fifth set, 2-2.

FAU and Memphis battled through a 7-6 Tiger lead to open the fifth, however, the Owls dominated the rest of the way, outscoring Memphis 9-1 over the remainder of the set to capture the fifth 15-8 and close out the five-set win.

STATS & NOTES

Gamboa, Layne, and Ashline led the way offensively for the Owls. Gamboa finished with a season-best 21 kills, hitting an impressive .486, and added two digs and a solo block.
Layne recorded 14 kills, hitting .379, and tied a match-best four blocks along with three digs.
Ashline tied a season-best 12 kills, hitting a team-best .556, and added three blocks and a dig against the Tigers.
Van Heyst had another career performance with her eighth double-double of the season, dishing out a career-best 60 assists along with tying for a team-high 11 digs, in addition to a team-best three aces, two kills and a block.
As a team, Florida Atlantic outpaced Memphis in hitting percentage, .293 to .238, along with kills, 70-59, assists, 68-58, and blocks, 9-8.
The Owls improve to 5-1 all-time against Memphis, improving their unbeaten mark in Boca Raton to 4-0.

GALLERY

Gallery: (10-23-2026) VB vs. Memphis (Oct. 23)

PRESS CONFERENCE

UP NEXT
The Owls head back on the road, opening a two-match road trip on Friday, Oct. 30 at Tulsa. First serve is set for 7 p.m. ET inside the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

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