11/22/2024 | Women’s Volleyball | Box Score
BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic Owls advanced to the American Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals on Friday, earning a five-set win, 3-2 (25-22, 25-27, 21-25, 25-12, 16-14), over the No. 3-seeded East Carolina Pirates inside Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas.
The Owls improve to 17-12 on the season, while East Carolina falls to 18-9. The win marks Florida Atlantic’s first postseason win since the 2019 season.
No. 6 FLORIDA ATLANTIC 3 – No. 3 EAST CAROLINA 2
East Carolina struck first before opening the match on a 10-8 run. The Owls answered back with a 6-2 run to take the lead 14-12 after a kill from Madison Dyer. The Pirates scored three unanswered to retake the lead 15-14, but the Owls went on a 4-1 run to force an East Carolina timeout, leading 18-16. The Pirates tied up the match at 21, but the Owls closed the opening frame on a 4-1 run to take the opening set 25-22.
The Owls battled the Pirates through a 9-9 stalemate to open the second, but East Carolina then broke things open on a 4-0 run to lead 13-9 and spark a Florida Atlantic timeout. The Pirates extended their lead to five off a 3-2 run to hold a 16-11 advantage as the Owls called their second timeout of the frame. East Carolina pushed its lead to six, holding a 20-14 lead before the Owls went on a 6-1 run to close within one, 21-20, and force an ECU timeout. The Owls continued their run out of the timeout, scoring three unanswered to take a 23-21 advantage late in the second. Florida Atlantic held set point at 24-23, but the Pirates rallied to close the set on a 4-1 run to even the match at one, 27-25.
Florida Atlantic opened the third on an 8-4 run to take the early lead, however, the Pirates answered back, producing a 6-1 run to take their first lead of the third, 13-9, and spark a Florida Atlantic timeout. East Carolina continued its momentum out of the timeout, outscoring the Owls 4-1, forcing another timeout as the Owls trailed 14-10. The Pirates extended their lead to 18-11, but the Owls battled back, scoring six unanswered to close the gap back to one, 18-17. East Carolina closed the set on a 7-4 run to eventually take the third set, 25-21, and take a 2-1 lead.
Florida Atlantic opened the fourth on a 6-2 run to spark an early Pirate timeout. The Owls continued their momentum, producing an 8-4 run to lead 14-6 as East Carolina called its second and final timeout of the fourth. Florida Atlantic produced another 8-3 run to lead 22-9. The Pirates went on a 3-1 run to close within 11, but it was too little too late as the Owls secured the fourth off back-to-back Pirate errors to capture the fourth in dominant fashion, 25-12, and force a decisive fifth set.
East Carolina opened the fifth on a 3-1 run, but the Owls battled back, going on a 7-3 run to hold an 8-6 lead at the side switch. Following a Pirate point out of the switch, the Owls scored two off a kill from Katelynn Robine and a Pirate attack error to lead 10-7 as East Carolina called its first timeout of the set. The Pirates rallied to close the set within one at 12-11 to spark a Florida Atlantic timeout. East Carolina eventually tied up the frame at 14 all, but the Owls came up clutch, tallying the final two points off Valeria Rosado’s 26th kill of the match and a block from Madison Dyer and Kayla Richardson to secure the five-set win, 16-14.
STATS & NOTES
- Senior Valeria Rosado led the Owls with a career-high 26 kills in the win.
- Katelynn Robine and Kaila Ru also registered double figure kills in the win, tallying 15 and 10 kills, respectively.
- Victoria Hensley finished with a match-leading 54 assists.
- Defensively, Isabelle Northam turned in a match-leading 20 digs, while Madison Dyer recorded a match-leading five blocks in the win.
- The Owls outhit ECU throughout the five-set match, .232 to .188.
- Florida Atlantic also held an advantage in aces, 7 to 6, assists, 59 to 58, and digs, 71 to 70.
UP NEXT
Florida Atlantic is now set to take on the No. 2-seeded Rice Owls in the American Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 23. First serve is set for 12 p.m. ET inside Charles Koch Arena and on ESPN+.
FOLLOW THE OWLS
For updates, follow @FAUVolleyball on X and Instagram, or like FAU Volleyball on Facebook.
