Owls Sweep Panthers in Record-Breaking Florida Atlantic Invitational Finale

Saturday, August 29

Boca Raton, Fla.

2 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

3-0,0-0American

FIU

2-1,0-0CUSA

Team	1	2	3	Final F
FIU	13	23	19	0
Fla. Atlantic	25	25	25	3

Match Notes (PDF)

Zoe Winford and Luye Marquez-Moreno celebrating vs. FIU

Owls Sweep Panthers in Record-Breaking Florida Atlantic Invitational Finale

8/29/2026 7:40:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic volleyball team closed out the Florida Atlantic Invitational on Saturday, breaking the program's single-game attendance record during its third sweep of the season with a 25-13, 25-23, 25-19 win over the FIU Panthers at Abessinio Court at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.

Florida Atlantic concludes its opening weekend at a perfect 3-0, while FIU fell to 2-1.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After battling through an 11-10 FAU advantage to open the match, the Owls scored four unanswered points, capped off by a kill from Maggie Allred, to hold a 15-10 lead at the first set technical timeout. FIU cut the Owls' lead to 16-12, however, FAU then went on another 3-0 run to force the Panthers' second and final timeout of the opening set, leading 19-12. Despite the timeout, FIU couldn't stifle the Owls' scoring success, who closed the set on a 6-1 run to take the opening 1-0 lead, 25-13.

The Owls scored first to open the second, however, the Panthers answered with a 6-1 run to take an early 6-2 lead. The Owls cut the deficit to 8-5 after another Allred kill, but FIU tacked on two more to spark the first FAU timeout of the contest, trailing 10-5. FAU slowly started battling back, cutting into the Panthers advantage, before eventually bringing things even at 19-19 after a kill from Olivia Hart. The Owls and Panthers continued to battle point for point through a 23-23 stalemate, however the Owls came in clutch down the stretch as a kill from Hart and a block from Sequoia Layne and Brooke Crummel closed out the set, giving FAU the two-set lead, 25-23.

Following a 5-4 Owl advantage to open the third, FIU went on a 4-0 scoring run to spark an early FAU timeout, trailing by three, 8-5. Out of the timeout, the Owls answered back on a 4-1 run, capped off by a Layne kill to force a Panthers timeout. The Owls and Panthers traded runs before entering the third set technical timeout with FAU holding a two-point advantage, 15-13. The Panthers tried to cut into the Owls lead, keeping things within two through an 18-16 FAU lead, however, the Owls wouldn't go down without a fight, closing the match on a 7-3 run to seal the three-set sweep, 25-19.

STATS & NOTES

Florida Atlantic set a new single-game attendance record with 873 fans in attendance.
The Owls were dominating on all sides of the net. Hart and Layne led the way.
Hart finished with a match-best 13 kills, hitting .500, and narrowly missing her first double-double of the season by tying a match-best nine digs, four blocks, and an ace.
Layne turned in a match second-best 12 kills, hitting .478, and adding five digs, three blocks, and an assist.
Maya Van Heyst powered the Owls offense, dishing out a match-best 25 assists, as well as adding eight digs and four kills.
Allred finished with a match-high five blocks.
As a team, the Owls outpaced the Panthers in every statistical category, including outhitting the Panthers .348 to .162, while also holding advantages in kills (41-39), aces (2-0), assists (37-36), digs (46-38), and blocks (9-5).

GALLERY

Gallery: (8-29-2026) 2026 VB vs. FIU (Aug. 29)

PRESS CONFERENCE

UP NEXT
The Owls now prepare for their first road trip of the season, heading to Fort Myers to compete at the FGCU Invitational on Thursday, Sept. 3 and Friday, Sept. 4 inside Alico Arena.

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