The Owls played for the last time in Paradise this season, including five seniors on senior day. The team that traveled to paradise was Tulane (14-14, 6-10 AAC). AAC tournament seeding and earning a spot in the tournament was on the mind of the two squads with a win or loss for Florida Atlantic deciding either a sixth or seventh seed; while the Green Wave were playing for a spot in the championship. The senior day celebrations continued through the match thanks to a dominant victory for FAU.
Florida Atlantic jumped out to a six-point lead thanks to multiple runs including a four-point run capped off by a Valeria Rosado kill to take a 10-4 lead early over the Green Wave. The Owls stretched the run to a 7-0 run, taking a 13-4 lead out of the Tulane timeout. The Owls stretched their lead to ten thanks to a Victoria Hensley (pictured below, Angelina LaBelle) kill as FAU led 18-8. The set continued in a dominant fashion for Florida Atlantic with the Owls winning 25-13 to clinch the 1-0 advantage in the match.
Tulane flipped the script early in the second. The Green Wave took a 9-3 lead to begin the second set, thanks to a five-point run. The Owls responded with a four-point run to bring the set within two, 10-8 Tulane. The Green Wave extended their lead to four and held close to that margin with FAU cutting into the lead, as they only trailed by two, 20-18. Thanks to a 3-1 run, Florida Atlantic evened the set at 21, but Tulane pulled away to gain the set two victory, 25-22.
Flip the beginning of set two and that and that is exactly what happened for set three with the Owls leading early 9-3. Florida Atlantic added on to their lead thanks to a Cornelio Romina kill to earn a 15-8 lead. The set was all FAU with the Owls taking a commanding 21-12 on their way to a 25-13 victory.
Unlike the first three sets, set four started close. The Green Wave had a 9-7 lead early. Florida Atlantic evened the set 13. A 4-1 run gave the Owls a 17-14 lead. Tulane called a timeout trying to search for another set win. Tulane had no answer as Florida Atlantic extended their lead to six, 20-14. The Owls held on to earn a 25-18 set victory and clinch the match 3-1.
Senior, Rosado earned a double-double thanks to her team leading 16 kills and 17 digs. Three seniors finished with double-digit kills including: Katelynn Robine, and Kaila Ru.The Owls earned a total of 56 kills. Cornelio led Florida Atlantic in digs with 22, FAU earned 80. Ru and Madison Dyer led the way with four blocks each with the squad earning nine.
Florida Atlantic (16-12, 8-8 AAC) will head to Wichita for AAC tournament play. This is the first time the conference has held a tournament in volleyball since the 2020 season. FAU enters the match as the sixth seed and will face-off against East Carolina (18-8, 11-5 AAC). The Owls are 0-2 on the season against ECU and have fallen 1-3, and 0-3 to the Pirates. The match is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 22, at 8:30 p.m.