Florida Atlantic Drops Five-Set Battle Against WVU

Friday, September 4

Fort Myers, Fla.

1 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

3-2,0-0American

WVU

2-1,0-0Big 12

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
West Virginia	25	16	25	22	15	3
Fla. Atlantic	22	25	18	25	10	2

9/4/2026 6:02:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Atlantic volleyball fought five sets against the West Virginia Mountaineers on Friday, but came up short down the stretch, dropping the 3-2 (22-25, 25-16, 18-25, 25-22, 10-15) battle inside FGCU's Alico Arena.

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

HOW IT HAPPENED
Florida Atlantic traded leads to open the match. Following an 8-6 Mountaineer advantage, the Owls retook the lead, 10-9, after a 4-1 run, capped off by a kill from Sequoia Layne. The Mountaineers responded, retaking the lead, 15-13, at the opening media break. Out of the break, the Owls scored three unanswered, however, West Virginia used an 8-3 run which they held and closed to take the opening set, 25-22.

The Owls opened the second on an 11-7 run to take the early second set lead, which forced a WVU timeout. Kierstin Bevelle registered back-to-back kills to give the Owls a 15-12 lead at the second set technical break. The Mountaineers remained within two at 17-15; however, an 8-1 run by the Owls closed the set, 25-16, and tied the match at 1-1.

The two squads battled through a 9-8 FAU advantage to open the third, however, seven unanswered points by the Mountaineers sent the two teams into the technical timeout with a 15-9 WVU lead. An ace by Olivia Hart capped the Owls' rally to cut the deficit to three at 18-15. The Mountaineers outpaced the Owls, 7-3, to close out the third set at 25-18 and retake a 2-1 lead.

WVU forced an early FAU timeout with a 7-5 opening run, extending the lead to four at 10-6, before a 9-0 FAU run, capped by a kill from Maya Van Heyst, gave the Owls a 15-10 fourth set advantage at the technical timeout. The Mountaineers eventually tied the match at 18-18 to force an FAU timeout. The Owls then produced a 4-1 run out of the timeout to retake the lead 22-19, before closing out the fourth 25-22 and forcing a fifth and match deciding set.

WVU took the early lead in the fifth, via a 6-1 run. Hart's fifth kill of the day helped cut the deficit to three, 8-5, at the fifth set side switch. The Owls continued to battle late, making it a two-point match at 12-10 before WVU scored three unanswered points to take the fifth, 15-10, and close the five-set battle, 3-2.

STATS & NOTES

Maya Van Heyst was named to the Sunshine State Classic All-Tournament Team
Hartman led the Owls offensively against West Virginia, hitting .429 and tallying nine kills.
Hart tallied her second double-double of the season with a match-leading 16 digs and a team-tying second with eight kills. She also recorded a match-best three service aces.
Van Heyst led the Owls in assists, dishing out a match-high 41 assists, in addition to adding nine digs and seven kills.
The Owls' block was led by Bre Morgan, posting a season-high six blocks, including two solo.
As a team, the Owls held advantages in kills, 56-54, service aces, 11-5, digs, 69-61, and attack attempts, 165-159.

UP NEXT
Next week, the Owls will head to Gainesville, Florida, to compete at the Florida Invite, beginning with a match versus the host Florida Gators on Friday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. ET at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

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