The No. 13-ranked Florida Atlantic University beach volleyball team lost two matches on March 14 during the opening day of the Florida Atlantic Beach Invitational in Pompano Beach, Florida. The Sandy Owls were defeated by No. 7 Florida State University with a score of 4-1 and by No. 6 Texas Christian University (TCU) with a score of 3-2.
These results bring Florida Atlantic’s overall record to 10-4 for the season, while Florida State improves to 12-1 and TCU moves to an 11-1 record. The matches featured close contests across several courts, with both opponents ranked higher than FAU.
Against Florida State, the Seminoles secured early wins on courts five and one before clinching the match on court three. Olivia Strandberg and Ava Koehl provided FAU’s only point in this matchup by winning their match in straight sets against FSU’s second pair, finishing with scores of 22-20 and 21-18. The Seminoles closed out the contest by taking court four.
In the match against TCU, the Horned Frogs took an initial lead after winning on court five. Denisse Morgenstern and Shantel Starling responded for FAU by sweeping TCU’s top pair on court one, but TCU regained the advantage after a comeback win on court three. Strandberg and Koehl again delivered for FAU at position two, tying up the overall score before TCU sealed victory with a win on court four.
Strandberg and Koehl finished the day undefeated in their matches, improving their season record to 10-3 overall and maintaining a perfect mark of 6-0 when playing as FAU’s second pair. Morgenstern and Starling ended Friday with one win and one loss, moving to a season record of 6-7 overall.
The Sandy Owls are scheduled to conclude play at their home invitational on Saturday with matches against No. 3 University of Southern California at 10 a.m., followed by Tampa at 2 p.m.
