After a run to the American Conference championship last season, FAU served off the 2025 volleyball season in the Florida Atlantic Invitational.
Facing off against two opponents on Friday, and one on Saturday, Florida Atlantic familiarized themselves with straight set sweeps. The Owls swept Kent State, were swept by Texas Tech, and capped off the weekend with a sweep over Western Carolina to start the year off 2-1.
Game 1: Florida Atlantic Vs Kent State
Set One
Florida Atlantic led set one 11-10 before a 4-point run forcing a Golden Flashes timeout as the Owls led 15-11. FAU’s lead held steady throughout the first set before a 6-2 run by Kent State evened the set at 21. The squads remained close, but back-to-back attack errors by the Golden Flashes put the Owls in the win column, 26-24.
Set Two
The second set was dominated by the Owls as FAU was the first to ten after an Olivia Hart kill, 10-6. Kent State equalized the set after a 4-0 run at 10. Florida Atlantic were able to extend their lead to three again thanks to an Anna Hartman kill, 16-13. From there, the closest the Golden Flashes were to tying the contest was at 17-16. The Owls ended the set with an 8-1 run taking the match advantage, 2-0 and earning the set at 25-17.
Set Three
Like the previous two sets, the contest was even early as the squads worked their way to a 10-10 tie. After trailing 13-11, Florida Atlantic went on a 6-1 run capped off by a Kent State service error, 17-14 Owls. The contest was worked to a 19-19 tie before another 6-1 run by FAU led to a 25-20 win thanks to a Madison Dyer kill. The Owls won their first match of the season 3-0.
Stats Leaders
Florida Atlantic had 44 kills in the match with a hitting percentage of .309 and five blocks. Hart led FAU in kills with 15, while Hartman had a .545 hit percentage. Maggie Allred led the Owls in blocks with four. Victoria Hensley (pictured above, Aubrey Corkum) had two aces.
Game 2: Florida Atlantic Vs Texas Tech
Set One
The Owls were the first to ten in set one as they led 11-8 over the Red Raiders. TTU responded with a 6-1 scoring run taking the lead 14-12. Texas Tech’s run continued over FAU as the Owls trailed 19-14. The remainder of set one was a back-and-forth affair scoring wise, but the Red Raiders lead was too much to overcome. 25-21 TTU.
Set Two
Unlike set one, the second set was close throughout. The first time one of the foes had a lead larger than one was when the Owls went on 3-0 run capped off by an Olivia Hart service ace at 19-16. The Red Raiders clawed back and evened the set at 22. Florida Atlantic reached set point first at a 24-23 lead thanks to a Maggie Allred kill. The set ended with Texas Tech going on 4-1 taking the set 27-25.
Set Three
While the Red Raiders had earned a 2-0 lead in the match, it was a close contest throughout. The sentiment held true in set three as TTU led only 11-10 early on. The Owls’ flicker for a comeback started to fade afterwards as Texas Tech earned an 18-13 lead. The Red Raiders lead held as Florida Atlantic fell 25-23.
Stats Leaders
Erin Morrissey led the Owls with 16 kills, while Emsley Venard, off the bench, had 24 assists. Florida Atlantic had a .217 hit percentage.
FAU’s issue was their errors. Florida Atlantic had 22 errors compared to Texas Tech’s 16. A difference of four points overall would have had the Owls up 2-1 entering into a fourth set.
Game Three: Florida Atlantic Vs Western Carolina
Set One
The opening of the matchup was dominated by the Catamounts as WCU led 11-5 early on. FAU fought back though. An 8-2 run capped off by a Dyer service ace evened up the set at 13. The remainder of the set stayed even with no team taking a lead larger than two. Both teams tied at 20 points and traded scores back and forth from there. It took until the two schools were tied at 27 for one to finally earn the win. There, back-to-back kills by Hartman and Dyer put FAU up in the match 1-0. The set ended in a 29-27 final.
Set Two
After trailing 7-5, Florida Atlantic went on a 7-1 run taking a 12-8 advantage. The Catamounts answered back with a 5-1 run of their own tying the set at 13. The squads worked their way to a 15 point tie, but then FAU went on a 10-3 run to win the set 25-18.
Set Three
Neither team was able to pull away early on as FAU and WCU were even at 10. Western Carolina then went on a 4-1 as Florida Atlantic coach Fernanda Nelson called a timeout. The Owls responded out of the break as FAU evened the set at 14. The teams then traded the lead with the Owls holding the advantage until the two squads were tied at 21. Florida Atlantic closed the set on a 4-0 run taking the set 25-21 and earning their second win of the year.
Stat Leaders
The Owls had 56 kills and a .396 hit percentage in the contest with 11 blocks as a team. FAU also had a 62.7 sideout percentage.
Hartman (12), Kayla Richardson (11), and Olivia Hart (10) all had double digit kills on the day. Hartman also had four blocks while Richardson had three. Throughout the tournament, Isabelle Northam did her job and had 18 digs in the Owls win.
All-Tournament Team
Two Owls were awarded All-Tournament honors as Isabelle Northam and Anna Hartman were two of the six standouts over the weekend.
Northam had 49 digs and eight assists across the three matches played while Hartman had 27 kills, nine assisted blocks, and five digs.
Friday Post Match Remarks
🎥 Our @Gbach2003 caught up with @FAUVolleyball Coach @nelson3fernanda after a split day in the Florida Atlantic Invitational. Her thoughts on the day, tomorrow's contest against #WCU, and more! #FAU 🦉🏐 pic.twitter.com/L5dP7fVtYQ
— FAU Owls Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) August 30, 2025
Up Next
Florida Atlantic (2-1) will face off against North Florida (0-2) currently trailing University of Illinois Chicago 2-1 at time of publishing). It is the first matchup between the two since 2021 where the Ospreys won 3-1. Overall, Florida Atlantic leads the series 8-5. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Tuesday, September 2nd.