RUSTON, La. – (Oct. 4, 2019) – Senior Sigourney Kame became just the fifth player in school history to reach 1,100 career kills as the Florida Atlantic University volleyball team swept Louisiana Tech (25-19, 25-19, 25-23) on Friday night. The Owls improve to 8-5 overall and are 2-0 to start conference play for the first time in a decade.
Key Plays
After spotting Louisiana Tech a 5-0 lead to start the first set, the Owls rallied to take an 11-10 edge. The Lady Techsters answered by pulling back ahead 13-11. FAU went on a 14-6 run to win the set 25-19. Six different Owls recorded a kill during the streak.
Kori Varney’s strong serving helped the Owls build an 8-3 lead early in set number two. The margin remained at least three until three straight La Tech points narrowed the gap to one, 15-14. After calling a timeout, FAU was able to regain its composure and reeled off a 10-5 spurt to end the frame and go up two sets to none.
Set number three was nip-and-tuck the entire way, with neither team able to sustain momentum for very long. The Owls appeared to seize control after taking a 16-13 advantage, but the Lady Techsters responded with an 8-2 rally to go up 21-18. After a Sigourney Kame kill and Massiel Matos service ace pulled FAU to within a point, Sydney Nemtuda put down consecutive kills and teamed up with Zuri Smith on a block to give the Owls a 23-22 lead. Ultimately, Kame’s 13th kill of the night completed the sweep for FAU.
Notables
- With the win, the Owls start conference play 2-0 for the first time since 2009, when they were members of the Sun Belt Conference
- Sigourney Kame had a match-high 13 kills, giving her an even 1,100 for her career and moving her up to fifth all-time in FAU history
- Stephanie Young notched her second career double-double, with 25 assists and 10 digs
- Massiel Matos just missed a double-double of her own, collecting nine kills and 10 digs
- Nikki Lakman also finished just shy of a double-double, posting 21 assists and eight digs
- The senior class made their presence known, recording 39 of the team’s 49 kills and 11 of the team’s 14 total blocks on the night
- As a unit, the Owls nearly tripled La Tech’s hitting percentage, tallying a .303 mark to just .102 for the Lady Techsters
Quotable
Head Coach Fernanda Nelson
“It is nice to get a conference win on the road. Louisiana Tech is a very good team and they came out with a lot of energy. I love how we kept our composure and played our game.”
What’s Next
The Owls travel to FIU on Sunday, Oct. 6. Match time is set for 1 p.m. A link to live stats 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:
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.
