Owls sweep pair of Friday matches

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic volleyball (6-3) opened up play in their final home tournament of the 2023 season with a pair of 3-0 sweeps against Incarnate Word (5-2) and Youngstown State (4-4).

“I loved how we played today,” expressed head coach Fernanda Nelson. “We came out and played strong. We were able to stay composed on the big points. Against Incarnate Word, we were behind pretty much every single set, but our kids were just really focused and that’s how we need to play. We have been talking a lot about coming out and playing strong and not waiting to see what the other side is going to do. I really thought that we did that today.”

FLORIDA ATLANTIC 3 – INCARNATE WORD 0

The Owls kicked off their opening day of the Owls Paradise Classic in a big way, earning a 3-0 sweep over Incarnate Word, handing the Cardinals their second loss of the season.

Arianna Beckham led the Owls with 11 kills, hitting .400 against the Cardinals. Kaila Ru also had an impressive offensive performance against Incarnate Word, hitting a team-leading .462, and tallying eight kills. Victoria Hensley and Noelle Stephens posted 19 assists and 18 assists, respectively. Defenively, Isabelle Northam led the Owls with 14 digs, while Lauryn Green tallied a team and season-high six blocks against the Cardinals.

After a 6-6 battle to open the contest, the Owls scored four unanswered to quickly take a 10-6 lead over the Cardinals. Incarnate Word cut the Owls lead down to one at 11-10, but another 4-0 pushed the Owls back out to a 15-10 advantage. The Cardinals battled back to even the match at 18-18. Things remained even at 20-20, however the Owls played clutch down the stretch to outscore the Cardinals 5-3 to close out the first, capped off by a Lauryn Green kill, to take the 1-0 lead.

Incarnate Word took the opening lead in the second, outscoring the Owls 8-2. The Owls battled back, slowly chipping away at the Cardinal’s lead to even the contest at 14-14. The Cardinals wouldn’t go away, eventually holding a 21-20 advantage, however the Owls closed the set on a 5-2 run to take the second 25-23 and hold a two-set advantage entering the third.

The Owls came out strong in the third, outscoring the Cardinals 11-7 to open the set. Incarnate Word battled back with a 10-5 run of their own to lead 17-16, but it was short-lived as Florida Atlantic closed the match with a 9-2 run to win the third, 25-19, and close out their third sweep of the season.

FLORIDA ATLANTIC 3 – YOUNGSTOWN STATE 0

Florida Atlantic rounded out the day with their second Friday sweep, earning a solid 3-0 win over Youngstown State.

Arianna Beckham once again led the Owls with a team-leading 10 kills, hitting .400 against Youngstown State. Beckham also tied for a team-leading three blocks. Victoria Hensley and Noelle Stephens dished out 20 assists and 16 assists, respectively. Isabelle Northam led the Owls’ backline, recording a match-high 13 digs.

The Owls opened up the match on a 7-2 run to take the opening lead. Florida Atlantic maintained a five-point lead through 12-7, before breaking away on a 4-0 run to take a 16-7 lead after a kill from Beckham. The Owls maintained their near double-digit lead, eventually closing out the first on a kill from Kaila Ru to win 25-15 and take the opening 1-0 advantage.

The Penguins and the Owls battled to a 7-7 stalemate to open the second, however the Owls produced a 7-1 run to break away to a 14-8 lead. Youngstown State battled back to eventually cut the Owls’ lead to just one at 21-22, however the Owls were able to trade points back and forth before eventually capturing the 25-23 win and holding a two-set advantage, 2-0.

Florida Atlantic battled out to an 11-6 lead to start the third. Youngstown State battled back to cut the Florida Atlantic lead to just one at 11-10, but the Owls answered back with an 8-3 run to hold a 19-13 lead. The Penguins once again looked to try and take the set from the Owls, cutting the lead to just two at 22-20, but kills from Katelynn Robine and Kaila Ru and a Penguin attack error closed out the set, 25-20, to give the Owls their second sweep of the day.