HOUSTON, Texas – The Florida Atlantic University volleyball team pulled off a monumental upset on Friday, defeating the Rice Owls, who were previously unbeaten in American Athletic Conference play and receiving votes in the AP Top-25 poll, in five sets to claim the Owls’ first win against Rice in Houston and the program’s first win over Rice since 2018.
“Our captains have been leading this team since this summer and I can’t say enough about their great leadership and how much they care about FAU,” expressed head coach Fernanda Nelson. “I am just so proud of our girls. They have been working so hard and every day we get better. They are buying in and they’re working every single day. This group and the culture they’re helping build is special. They have fun with each other, and they have been putting in the work, so to see them beat a great team like Rice, a perennial top-25 team, and celebrate the win was incredible.”
SET 1
After falling down 2-0, Florida Atlantic locked in to complete the reverse sweep and hand the Rice Owls their first conference loss of the season.
Rice opened the match on an 11-7 run. Florida Atlantic battled back to cut the deficit back down to two at 20-18, but Rice closed the frame on a 5-1 run to take the opening set 25-19.
SET 2
The Rice Owls got jumped out to a 4-1 lead to open the second set, but FAU battled back on kills from Arianna Beckham, Madison Dyer, and Katelynn Robine, as well as a Robine service ace to even things up at 5-5. The Owls maintained the momentum on a 7-3 run to take their largest lead of the match at 12-8. Florida Atlantic maintained a two-point advantage through a 14-12 lead, however, Rice scored 11 unanswered to hold a 23-14 lead, before eventually taking the 2-0 match lead off the 25-16 second set win.
SET 3
The tides turned in set three. FAU opened the third set 11-7, capped off by a kill from Robine, to force a Rice timeout. Rice battled back to close within one at 14-13 as the Owls called their first timeout of the set. Out of the break, the FAU Owls outscored Rice 5-2 as Florida Atlantic took a 19-15 lead following a kill from Hensley into Rice’s second timeout of the set. FAU kept battling following the timeout as they continued to outscore Rice 6-3 over the remainder of the set to secure the 25-18 win and send the match to a fourth set.
SET 4
Florida Atlantic continued the fight into the fourth, mounting an 15-9 run to open the frame, which was capped off by three kills from Hensley and a Rice attack error. The Owls went on another 4-2 run, sparking Rice’s first timeout of the set after a pair of kills from Beckham and Valeria Rosado which pushed FAU to a 19-13 lead. Rice began to try to mount a comeback, producing a 7-2 run cutting the Owls’ lead to just one, 21-20. A solo block from Green and a Rice attack error put the Owls back up by three, 23-20. Rosado recorded a kill to give the Owls’ set point at 24-22. Rice got back within one after a Florida Atlantic attacking error, but Beckham closed things out with the kill to clinch the 25-23 win and force a decisive fifth set.
THE CLOSE
Rice opened the fifth with a 4-1 run, but the FAU Owls battled back off a Rice service error, a block assist from Green and Rosado, and a service ace from Isabelle Northam to even things up at 4-4. Rice retook the lead to hold a 7-5 advantage, but the momentum changing moment came from FAU’s captain Katelynn Robine’s kill, giving FAU an 8-7 lead and putting Florida Atlantic in front by one at the side change. Rice evened the set up at eight, but back-to-back kills from Robine and another Rice attack error pushed the Owls to their largest lead of the set at 11-8. Rice tallied back-to-back points to cut the lead to one at 11-10. Coach Nelson called a timeout to reset her team for a 4-2 match closing run capped off by a Romina Cornelio kill to complete the upset reverse sweep against Rice.
THE LEADERS
Three Owls led the way with double-figure kills. Rosado posted a team-high 11 kills, while Beckham and Robine registered 10 kills each in the win. Rosado registered her sixth double-double of the season with 19 digs, and Beckham tallied her second career double-double with a career-best 18 digs. Hensley registered team-high 38 assists to power the Owls’ offense, while also registering a career-best six kills. Northam led the Owls’ back row, registering a career-high 25 digs, while Green was the Owls’ leader at the net, tallying five blocks, including a season-high three solo blocks.
UP NEXT
The Owls remain on the road next weekend as they travel to Birmingham, Ala. for a pair of matches against the UAB Blazers on Oct. 21 and 22 at Bartow Arena.
FOLLOW THE OWLS
For updates, follow @FAUVolleyball on Twitter and Instagram, or like FAU Volleyball on Facebook.
