BOCA RATON – Charlotte Volleyball bounced back with a win on the road at Florida Atlantic on Sunday (Oct. 19) defeating the Owls in four sets. With the win, Charlotte completes the season sweep of Florida Atlantic, improves to 15-5 on the season, and 6-2 in American Conference play.

Tulsa, South Florida, and Rice are currently tied for the lead in the conference standings at 7-1 in league play. Charlotte sits in fourth at 6-2 while Wichita State, North Texas, and Florida Atlantic are all 5-3.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The senior leadership was on display for Charlotte in the first set. Jaylen Jordan, Kristen Birmingham, Jessica Ricks, and Selanny Puente combined for 12 of the team’s 14 kills. Their efforts propelled Charlotte out to a 16-12 lead at the media timeout. While Charlotte never relinquished the lead during the set, Florida Atlantic continued to fight back on their way to tying the set at 24 apiece, after a successful challenge that overturned a potential 25-22 set win for Charlotte. With the score even at 24, an attacking error by Florida Atlantic’s Olivia Hart and a block from Lauren Nixon and Puente clinched the victory for Charlotte 26-24.

Set two was another nailbiter down to the wire. Charlotte’s defensive success carried over from Friday night, when they had 11 blocks in the three sets loss to South Florida, to the second set when they had five as a team. Puente notched a solo block while Sofia Locadia and Ricks combined for five block assists. Charlotte trailed 13-8 at the halfway point of the set. Following a timeout, the Niners answered with a 7-1 scoring run to claim their first lead of the set at 15-14, totaling three blocks during that run. Leading 23-22 in the closing stages, kills from Birmingham and Ricks gave Charlotte the 2-0 lead in sets.

With their backs against the wall, Florida Atlantic continued to fight. There were 13 ties and four lead changes in the second set as both teams battled back and forth. Libby Ashline led the way for the Owls with six kills on a .714 hitting percentage. 19 kills to Charlotte’s 10 proved to be a difference in a 25-20 set win for Florida Atlantic, extending the match to a fourth set 25-19, which saw the Owls ending the set on a 7-1 scoring run.

Momentum seemed to be in favor of Florida Atlantic heading into the fourth set, but Charlotte was able to flip that script with a 9-3 run to start set four. Offensively, the Niners hit a match best .385% in the fourth set, improving on the .194% from set three. It was a total team effort as eight different Niners recorded a kill. After Lauren Nixon received the start at setter and dished out 29 assists in the match, Maddie Stuesser started the fourth set and provided a boost to the offense, tallying 15 assists. With just one tie in the set, Charlotte otherwise led wire-to-wire, never giving up the lead on their way to the 25-21 fourth set win to clinch the match.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Annika Thompson recorded a game high 24 digs, a match that featured two of the best liberos in the American between Thompson and Isabelle Northam, who finished with 17 digs. Jessica Ricks notched her fifth double-double in the last six games, and 10th of the season, with 15 kills and 18 digs in the match. Lauren Nixon also had 12 digs to go with her 29 assists. Charlotte had 12 blocks as a team, with Sofia Locadia having seven block assists, Ricks with six block assists, and Puente with two solo blocks and three block assists.

NEXT UP

Charlotte will complete their road trip on Wednesday (Oct. 22) with a trip to East Carolina. First serve is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. streaming live on ESPN+.