ORLANDO, Fla. – (Sept. 20, 2019) – The Florida Atlantic University volleyball made a furious comeback attempt against Miami on Friday, but came up short by the smallest of margins. The Owls lost to the Hurricanes in five sets (25-15, 25-15, 25-27, 12-25, 16-14) at the Sunshine State Challenge on Friday. FAU is now 6-3 on the season.
Key Plays
After a Sydney Nemtuda kill pulled the Owls to within a point at 5-4, UM reeled off 10 straight points as part of a 15-3 run to take a 20-7 lead. FAU made a modest rally, but the Hurricanes took set number one 25-15.
In set number two, FAU took a 10-9 lead on another Nemtuda kill, but the Hurricanes responded with another rally, this one 16-5 to win the frame by another 25-15 final score.
Momentum swung back and forth early in the third set. The sides were square at 11-11 when UM tallied six straight points to take a 17-11 advantage. The lead had stretched to six at 24-18, but the Owls were able to fight off six straight match points to even the score at 24. A Jordan Yauch kill gave FAU a set point of its own, but UM answered to tie things up 25-25. However, back-to-back Hurricane attack errors sent the match to a fourth set 27-25.
Strong serving by Massiel Matos and Kori Varney helped the Owls maintain firm control of the action throughout the fourth set and a pair of Yauch kills clinched the 25-12 FAU win and forced a decisive fifth set.
In the fifth set, neither team was able to maintain a firm grasp on the lead, as there were eight ties and four lead changes in the frame. After a Nikki Lakman dump gave the Owls match point, UM responded with a kill, followed by two straight service aces to win the match for the Hurricanes.
Notables
· Lakman posted 16 assists and a career-high 15 digs for her first double-double as an Owl
· Nemtuda put down 15 kills, tied for most in the match
· Matos had 10 kills and 15 digs for her 15th career double-double
· Kennedy Muckelroy tallied 10 kills, the most for her this season, and hit .389 in the contest
· Zuri Smith notched eight kills and four block assists
· Varney registered 12 digs
· FAU falls to 1-11 all-time versus the Hurricanes
· The Owls are now 1-2 on the season in five-set matches, having lost to then-No.22 Florida State and defeating TCU on back-to-back days earlier this year
· As a team, FAU had 66 digs, to 62 for the Hurricanes. It is the first time this year the Owls have lost when recording more digs than their opponent
What’s Next
FAU concludes action at the Sunshine State Challenge on Saturday with matches against Florida Gulf Coast and UCF at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively. Links to live stats for both matches and live video of the UCF match will be available at fausports.com. Live updates will be posted to the team’s official Twitter account, @FAUVolleyball.
– FAUSports.com –
Florida Atlantic University Athletics:
FAU Athletics is comprised of 21 intercollegiate teams involving 450 student-athletes that compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, volleyball, beach volleyball, cheer and dance. The Owls are a NCAA Division I-A (FBS) institution and compete in Conference USA and the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) (beach volleyball, men’s swimming). The Owls have been playing football since 2001 and are a perfect 3-0 in bowl games, the most recent being a 50-3 victory over Akron in the 2017 Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl. The dance team finished its 2014 season No. 8, nationally. FAU cheer won a national championship in 2016.
About Florida Atlantic University:
areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU’s existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six county service region in southeast Florida. FAU’s world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU’s existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.
