FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Atlantic volleyball (8-4) opened play in the FGCU Classic on Friday, splitting their matches against the Le Moyne (0-7), 3-0, and FGCU (6-4), 0-3.
FLORIDA ATLANTIC 3 – LE MOYNE 0
The Owls kicked things off with a dominant sweep over the Le Moyne Dolphins.
Kaila Ru led the Owls, hitting .615 and tallying a match-high 10 kills and four blocks. Victoria Hensley dished out a match-leading 26 assists and Isabelle Northam led the Owls’ back row with a match-best nine digs.
After a 2-2 tie to open up the match, the Owls rattled off eight unanswered, capped off by a kill from Alicia Hearn to break out to a 10-2 lead. Florida Atlantic maintained an eight-point advantage through 19-11, before close the opening frame on a 6-2 run to take the opening 25-13 win and a 1-0 advantage.
The Owls were even at 3-3 to open the third but produced an 11-3 run to break away and lead 14-6. The Dolphins cut the Florida Atlantic lead to seven at 18-11, however it just wasn’t enough as the Owls closed the second on a 7-1 run to close out the second and capture the two-set advantage, 25-12.
The Dolphins held a 6-5 lead in the third, but a kill from Victoria Hensley put the Owls back in front 7-6 through a 4-0 Owl run to give Florida Atlantic a 9-6 lead. The Owls extended their lead to double digits to lead 20-9. Le Moyne tried to battle back, but the Owls matched the Dolphins point-for-point, 5-5, over the remainder of the third to take the third 25-14 and complete the three-set sweep, 3-0.
FLORIDA ATLANTIC 0 – FGCU 3
Florida Atlantic closed out its opening day of the FGCU Classic in the nightcap, falling in straight sets against host FGCU, 3-0.
Katelynn Robine led the Owls with seven kills, hitting .278, in addition to a dig and a service ace against the Eagles. Madison Dyer also had a good performance against FGCU, recording an impressive .750 hitting percentage to go along with a team second-best six kills and a team-leading three blocks. Victoria Hensley finished with a match-best 24 assists, while Isabelle Northam led the team with nine digs.
The Owls battled the Eagles to a 6-5 Florida Atlantic lead to open up the match. The Owls continued to trade points with FGCU, staying within one point through a 19-18 FGCU lead, however the Eagles closed the opening set with a 6-2 run to take the 25-20 win and lead by one, 1-0.
The Owls captured an 5-3 lead to open the second, but the Eagles responded with a 4-0 run to take their first lead of the set, 7-5. Florida Atlantic evened things up at 9-9 off a kill from Katelynn Robine, but a 7-1 FGCU run kicked the Eagles’ lead back out to six, 16-10. The Owls cut the deficit to four, making it 16-12, however Florida Atlantic just couldn’t bring it any closer as the Eagles eventually took the third 25-16 to close out the three-set battle.
UP NEXT
The Owls will take back to the court tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 16 in a Big Ten battle against the Maryland Terrapins. First serve is set for 1 p.m. inside Alico Arena.
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