Owls Fall to Eagles in Four

Thursday, September 3

Fort Myers, Fla.

6 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

3-1,0-0American

FGCU

2-2,0-0ASUN

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Fla. Atlantic	20	25	25	19	1
FGCU	25	27	18	25	3

9/3/2026 10:03:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic Owls battled tough but came up short in four sets, 3-1 (25-20, 27-25, 18-25, 25-20) in their Sunshine State Classic opener against the FGCU Eagles on Thursday evening at Alico Arena.

Florida Atlantic falls to 3-1 on the season, while FGCU moves to 2-2.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After battling through a 7-7 tie, FGCU went on a 5-1 run to take a 12-8 lead and force an FAU timeout. Olivia Hart cut the deficit to three at 13-10 on her first kill of the day, however, FGCU answered back with two more to hold a 15-10 advantage at the opening technical break. FGCU extended its lead to eight after a 7-4 run, making it 22-14. Luye Marquez-Moreno stifled the Eagles' momentum to spark 5-0 Owl run, cutting the lead back to three, 22-19, but it wasn't enough as the Eagles closed the set on a 3-1 run to take the opening set, 25-20.

The Owls had a slow start in set two as FGCU jumped out to a 7-1 advantage to open the set, forcing an early FAU timeout. FAU started slowly battling back, cutting the Eagles' lead to just one at 13-12 after a kill from Maggie Allred. Following a 15-13 FGCU advantage at the second set technical break, an Anna Hartman kill and Hart's first ace of the day tied the set up at 15-15. FGCU answered back, going on a 5-1 run to force the Owls to call their second and final timeout of the set. Out of the break, the Owls rallied back, scoring four unanswered to cap off a 5-1 run to bring things even once again at 21-21 after a kill from Hart. The Owls and Eagles traded points through ties at 22, 23, 24, and 25, before an FGCU kill and an FAU attacking error closed out the second in FGCU's favor, 27-25.

Florida Atlantic would not go down without a fight in the third. The Owls opened the set on a 10-4 run to take an early six-point advantage. FGCU cut the Owls' lead to just two at 12-10, sparking an FAU timeout, however, the Owls went on a 3-1 run, capped off by a kill from Maquez-Moreno, to hold a 15-11 lead at the third set technical break. FAU continued the momentum out of the break, scoring a 4-1 run to lead 19-12 and spark FGCU to call its first timeout of the set. The Eagles cut the Owls' advantage to five at 22-17, but the Owls controlled the entire set, closing the frame on a 3-1 run to take the 25-18 set three win, and cutting the match lead to 2-1.

After battling through a 7-7 tie, FGCU took a 9-7 lead to spark the Owls' first timeout of the fourth. The Owls took the momentum back out of the break, scoring five unanswered to retake the lead 12-9 and force the Eagles to call their first timeout of the set. FGCU answered back, going on an 8-2 run to force the Owls to call their second and final timeout of the fourth, trailing by three, 17-14. FGCU extended its lead to five at 19-14, before the Owls' battled back after a 5-2 run to bring things back within two, 21-19, but FGCU went on to score four unanswered to take set four, 25-19, and close out the 3-1 match.

STATS & NOTES

Marquez-Moreno led the way for the Owls, posting her first double-double of the season with a team-high 12 kills and 11 digs, in addition to a pair of assists and a block.
Natalie Depaula also had a good showing, leading the Owls with a .304 hitting clip and finishing with a team second-best nine kills against the Eagles.
Maya Van Heyst also recorded a double-double, her second of the season, leading the Owls with 25 assists and adding 10 digs.
Allred led the Owls block, turning in four blocks on the night.

UP NEXT
The Owls close out play in Fort Myers tomorrow at 1 p.m. against West Virginia at Alico Arena.

FOLLOW THE OWLS
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