The battle of the birds went in favor of the Owls as they swept the Ball State Cardinals 3-0 in the final match of the Florida Atlantic Invitational.
Set one started with FAU jumping out to a 9-4 lead before a Ball State timeout. The Owls stretched the lead to 8 with a 5-0 scoring run making the score 17-9 in favor of Florida Atlantic; Ball State used another timeout. The set ended in a dominant win for FAU in a final of 25-12.
The second set was more of the same for Florida Atlantic as they took advantage of a four point lead at 10-6. Ball State answered by going on a 5-0 scoring streak taking an 11-10 lead. The Owls used a timeout to try to regroup. The timeout ended up working in favor of FAU as they were able to use a 4-0 scoring streak to come from behind to take set two in a final of 26-24. Florida Atlantic was down 21-16 at one point during the set.
Set three started off as a back and forth one point lead or tie. The Owls would gain their first lead of the set at 6-5 before it was tied up again. The set remained close as FAU held a two point lead until the Cardinals tied it up at 16. Florida Atlantic used two 3 point scoring runs to separate themselves from Ball State as the Owls won set three; 25-20 to complete the sweep of the Cardinals.
Senior Katelynn Robine (6) led the Owls in kills with her total of 12. Florida Atlantic’s team total was 45 compared to the Cardinals 38. FAU dominated the aces stat as they had 10 compared to the Cardinals 1. Finally, the Owls had 31 digs compared to the Cardinals 27.
FAU will take on rival FIU in their next match. The Panthers are 0-2 (currently trailing #22 Dayton 2-0) on the year coming to Paradise after a trip to Dayton, Ohio. The last match between the two was a 3-2 win for the Panthers in 2022. The Owls will hope to stop a three match losing streak by the Panthers at 6 PM on Tuesday, September 3rd. The match will be streamed on FAUSports.com