No. 16 Florida Atlantic beach volleyball (13-11, 2-0 CUSA) was put to the test during the Texas Invitational this past weekend at the Wright-Whitaker Sports Complex in Austin, where they competed in what is widely considered one of the most competitive regular-season events in NCAA beach volleyball.

FAU entered the tournament coming off a 2-2 showing at the North Florida Invitational, dropping from No. 14 to No. 16 in the rankings.

The Owls opened the tournament against No. 3 University of Southern California (21-4) and No. 10 Long Beach State (18-6). On day two, they faced No. 2 Stanford (21-2) and No. 3 UCLA (18-3). After four hard-fought matches, the Owls finished the weekend 0-4.

Despite the challenging weekend, Head Coach Steve Grotowski had many positive takeaways. Especially when looking ahead to the postseason.

“Yeah, it’s huge for our experience. One of the big focuses this year is winning our conference, getting back to the NCAA tournament, and advancing as far as we can. So I think this weekend there were a lot of really good things, stuff that we’ve been working on at practice that I saw the girls starting to implement, and it got us really close in a few matches,” said Grotowski.

“Even if we didn’t get any wins, at the end of the day it’s about playing our best volleyball at the end of the year, and that’s always the goal.”

The highlight of the weekend came on day two when Mia Scanlon and Klaire VanDeusen, a former USC Trojan, earned a win over UCLA.

Friday, March 27th

On courts four and five, the Trojans got off to a fast start. Cameron Knifton and Allison Spittal were defeated in straight sets, 21-11, 21-14, followed by a 21-16, 21-19 loss for Reese Edwards and Kendall Mignerey, putting USC up 2-0 over Florida Atlantic.

In the second spot, Olivia Strandberg and Ava Koehl lost 21-14, 21-14, securing USC a dual victory.

On court one, Shantel Starling and Denisse Morgenstern won their first set 21-18. The Trojans responded with a 21-18 in the second set, sending the match into a third set, where USC secured the victory 15-10.

Meanwhile, in the third flight, VanDeusen and Scanlon took the opening set 17-21, before falling in a reverse sweep 21-15, 15-9. The Owls would fall again in their next matchup against Long Beach State.

In the afternoon matches, FAU took on Long Beach State and, once again, gave up an early lead as courts four and five opened the dual.

Knifton and Spittal were the first to fall in the fifth flight, dropping a straight-set match 21-18, 21-11.

On court four, Edwards and Mignerey opened the match with a 21-16 win, but The Beach responded with an 18-21, 15-11 three-set victory.

Clinching the match for Long Beach State on court two, Koehl and Strandberg fell 21-19, 21-13. On courts three and one, the pairs were also defeated in straight sets.

To cap the day, the Owls were defeated by USC and Long Beach, moving them to 0-2 for the tournament. 

Saturday, March 28th

After a tough test on Friday, the competition on Saturday only got stronger as the Sandy Owls took on the top two nationally ranked teams.

The action began on court three, where Scanlon and VanDeusen fell 21-19, 21-13, followed by another straight-set loss on court four, where Edwards and Mignerey were defeated 21-14, 21-15.

Starling and Morgenstern opened with a 21-16 win before falling to the Cardinals in a close 18-21, 15-12 match on court one. Knifton and Wolf won the first set 21-14; however, Stanford bounced back with a 21-10, 15-12 win.

Wrapping up the dual in the second flight, Koehl and Strandberg dropped another three-set match.

In the weekend’s finale, the Owls faced No. 1 UCLA, who have been ranked as the top team in the country for three consecutive weeks.

The Bruins took an early lead after taking straight-set victories on courts two and one. However, Scanlon and VanDeusen cut the deficit with their straight-set sweep on court three. The pair beat Harper Cooper and Alexa Fernandez. Cooper had been undefeated at 16-0 with five different partners on the season entering the tournament. She concluded the weekend 19-1.

With their win over the Bruins, VanDeusen and Scanlon improved to a season-best 13-10 record as a pair.

UCLA secured the match with a two-set court four win, then closed the match with a three-set win at the court to end the battle 4-1.

The Owls have a bye week and will return on April 10-11, hosting their Capri Classic for senior weekend at the Florida Atlantic Beach Volleyball Complex. FAU will face Jacksonville University, Stephen F. Austin, North Florida, and Florida Gulf Coast.

Ella Haas is a Staff Writer for the University Press. Email her at [email protected] or contact her on Instagram @ella_hs7 for information regarding this or other stories.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Monday, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Texas celebrated the grand opening of its new house at Texas Children’s Hospital in north Austin. 

The organization provides essential services for families such as warm meals and a place to rest near their child while they are receiving care at the hospital. 

This will be Central Texas’ second Ronald McDonald House. The first house is located in Mueller next to Dell’s Children’s Medical Center, according to the organization’s website. However, the north Austin house will be the first in-hospital house.

The north Austin house will have nine separate family suites, according to a press release. Families will also have a kitchen staffed with volunteers preparing meals, a dining area, a lounge room, complimentary laundry facilities and a room for arts and activities.

Just steps away from their child’s bedside, the collaboration with Texas Children’s Hospital Austin ties into RMHC’s mission of keeping families close. 

“This new in-hospital Ronald McDonald House represents a meaningful commitment to families across Central Texas and beyond,” said Dr. Jeffrey Shilt, president of Austin and Central Texas at Texas Children’s. “By bringing this resource directly onto our Austin campus, we are helping ensure families can stay close to their child, remain connected to their care team and focus on what matters most during some of life’s most challenging moments.”

CEO of Ronald McDonald House of Central Texas Kristin Coulter said this is a milestone for the organization. 

“We’ve been experiencing a waitlist due to shortages of rooms for the last 5 years so today is a milestone moment for Ronald McDonald House because we are going to be able to serve nine more families here at the house who have children who are critically ill or injured staying at the hospital,” Coulter said.