Florida Atlantic hosted East Carolina (8-3) (1-0) for their first conference match of the season Friday night. The Owls had a dominant first set, but the Pirates had a tight grip on the match as ECU won 3-1 in the AAC conference opener. Set one was all Owls as with the help of six attack errors early by the Pirates, FAU jumped out to a 9-3 lead before a timeout by East Carolina. Florida Atlantic extended their lead to 16-7 from a Natalie Depaula kill (pictured above, Angelina LaBelle), but the route did not stop there as the Owls won the set 25-15 in dominant fashion. ECU kept up in the second set as down 1-0 in the match the Pirates took an early 9-7 lead. The set stayed close as a Victoria Hensley (pictured below, Angelina LaBelle) kill gave the Owls a one point advantage, 13-12. The lead continued to change hands throughout the set as at the media timeout it was a 15-13 Pirates advantage. Florida Atlantic’s first timeout of the match was called after an ECU kill as the Owls found themselves down 20-17. As the Pirates had match point, the Owls went on a 3-0 run to make it only a 24-23 lead for East Carolina. Sadly, the Owls could not complete the comeback as ECU won set two 25-23. With the match being tied 1-1, East Carolina commanded an 8-5 lead to start the third set. The Owls took their second timeout of the third set as they found themselves trailing 12-6. At the media timeout FAU was still trailing by six, 15-9. The Pirates extended their lead to 14 and controlled set three all the way to a victory as ECU won 25-11 It was now Florida Atlantic’s turn for a comeback, but the Pirates were adamant on not letting the Owls climb back into the match as the fourth set started 8-4 in favor of the Pirates before a FAU timeout. FAU responded with a three point run to make it only a one point East Carolina lead, 11-10. The set continued with FAU fighting back to a one point deficit multiple times, but the Pirates held on to their slim lead. The Owls called a timeout as the Pirates stretched their lead to three, 16-13. East Carolina kept their foot on the gas as they pulled away to win the set 25-19. ECU beat the Owls 3-1. The kills leader for FAU was Madison Dyer as she led the Owls with her total of 11 as Florida Atlantic had 46 in the match. Victoria Hensley, who is fifth in the NCAA in total assists added to her total as she achieved a mark of 42 assists with the Owls total being 45. Romina Cornelio led the teams in digs with her total of 12 as Florida Atlantic as a team had 56. Kaila Ru had three blocks to lead the FAU to a total of four. Before conference play, the Pirates and Owls were picked to finish fourth and fifth respectively in the AAC. Florida Atlantic (8-4) (0-1) only faces AAC opponents until the end of the season. The next opponent to face the Owls is Charlotte (3-10). The 49ers face USF on Saturday before they come to Paradise on Sunday. For the 49ers, now is the time to turn their season around, but Florida Atlantic should take care of business to close out the weekend 1-1 in conference play. The match starts at 4:00 P.M. on Sunday, Sept., 29.
