Florida Atlantic University’s women’s volleyball team (6-3) swept the Bethman-Cookman University Wildcats (0-9) in the last game of the Owls Paradise Classic, three sets to zero, to win the tournament on Saturday afternoon.
“I’m very pleased how hard we played and we didn’t care about who was on the other side. That’s something that we have been asking our girls, but I think our blocking is getting better and that is the first defensive line and that’s why we have been working on it a lot,” head coach Fernanda Nelson said about the strengths of this team.
It was a record-breaking day as the Owls had a team-high 20 service aces, passing the previous record of 17 in 1989.
The Owls dominated the Wildcats in the first set 25-11. FAU junior outside hitter Katelynn Robine led the team in kills and aces getting four each. The Wildcats weren’t effective at all, with their team only showing life when scoring three straight points to make the score 8-16. The Owls quickly closed the set after that with sophomore middle blocker Madison Dyer.
The second set started off with a little back and forth between the two teams to make it 3-3, but the Owls pulled away with a four point run led by junior outside hitter Romina Cornelio who scored three of those four points. FAU’s freshman libero Isabelle Northam had a career-high six straight service aces to make the score 16-4. The Wildcats scored a quick four points after but the Owls would take back control and end the set with a kill from Cornelio.
The Wildcats took a 5-4 lead over the Owls in the beginning of the third set but the Owls answered quickly with a five point stretch to take the lead. From that point on, the Owls had all of the momentum quickly getting a 23-11 lead. The Wildcats tried to make a last minute push scoring seven points down the stretch but with a kill from senior middle blocker Alicia Hearn, the Owls won the game.
Sophomore outside hitter Arianna Beckham won the Owls Paradise Classic MVP and made the All-Tournament team, alongside teammates junior setter Noelle Stephens and sophomore setter Victoria Hensley.
Morgan Larkins is a contributing writer for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email him at [email protected] or DM him on Instagram or Twitter @mj_larkins.
