The Florida Atlantic Owls women’s volleyball team defeated the Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) Knights volleyball team, three sets to one, to end the FAU Invitational.
Out of the gate, FDU graduate midfielder Rebeka Fucka came out with a kill shot to put the Knights up 1-0. FAU rallied back with two kills by junior outside hitters Katelynn Robine and Valeria Rosado. The Knights came back from being down 3-1 from a kill by sophomore outside hitter Kylie Nott, and an attack error by the Owls junior middle blocker Kaila Ru.
After the back and forth trading of points, the Owls managed to pull away with a win in the first set leading by as much as 19-9. The Knights’ sophomore outside hitter Giorgia Vaschetti and Nott tried to rally the team back with two kill shots to slow down the momentum. However, it wasn’t enough as sophomore outside hitter Arianna Beckham helped the Owls take the first set 25-15.
The Knights came out starting the second set with a 6-2 lead, which resulted in the Owls calling a timeout to make adjustments. The Owls came out of the timeout firing on all cylinders scoring three unanswered points making the score 6-5 resulting in the Knights using a timeout. After the reset, both teams didn’t let up trading point for point. The Owls’ defender freshman libero Isabelle Northam had 10 digs in the first two sets and her defensive prowess turned the team around to take set two with the kill by graduate middle blocker Lauryn Green to end the set 25-21.
FAU came out in the third set with an instant kill by Green, but FDU responded with two kills to make it 1-2. In the highly competitive back and forth third set, the Knights were trying to stay in the fight but the Owls’ Beckham, Green, and sophomore middle blocker Madison Dyer were not giving the Knights room to breathe with consistent kills and blocks from the three in the front.
The Knights battled to keep the score in striking distance led by junior striker Hannah Schmidt, who has been doing everything for the Knights in assists, blocks and kills to keep the Knights in this set. After being down as much as four points, the Knights managed to rally back in set three led by Schmidt who aided in the Knights to win set three, 25-23.
Neither team could get an edge in set four going point for point until the Knights senior outside hitter Sofia Rampazzo hit a kill shot at 10-11 from Schmidt to tie the game, which sparked a fire in the Knights going on a 5-0 run to lead in the fourth set 16-11. The Owls outside hitter Beckham had enough of that run, sparking the Owls after a kill shot set up by sophomore striker Victoria Hensley to set the tempo for the Owls. That spark from Beckham pushed the Owls back, going on a 4-0 run to bring the score to 16-15. After a hard fought fourth set by both teams, the Owls managed to make the comeback to close out the game in the fourth set 23-25 led by Beckham with a career-high 14 kills. The Owls win the game, three sets to one, ending the FAU Invitational.
“I’m very happy how we were able to bounce back,” said head coach Fernanda Nelson. “We have seven new players. We need more time together. I feel like after yesterday going through our first and second match really helped to come back today.”
The Owls next game will be on the road against the University of Miami on Monday, Aug. 28 at 6 p.m.
Chris Smith is a Contributing Writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or DM via Twitter @chris_smith_35 or Instagram @Chris_smith_4.
