BOCA RATON, Fla. – (Sept. 27, 2019) – The Florida Atlantic University volleyball team overcame a first set loss to defeat rival FIU in four sets (23-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-22) in its Conference USA opener on Friday. The defensive minded affair featured several extended rallies. FAU extended the nation’s second longest home winning streak to 21 and improved to 7-5 on the season.
Key Plays
The Panthers (7-5, 0-1) jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first set. After calling a timeout, FAU fought back to within a point at 9-8, but FIU pushed the edge back out to four, 13-9. The Panthers were able to maintain a modest lead for most of the set. Trailing 23-18 late, the Owls went on a 5-1 run to once again trim the margin down to a point, but an attack error gave FIU the first set.
Set number two was a role reversal as FAU took a quick 6-2 lead. The Panthers’ narrowed the cushion to a single point at 8-7, but the Owls immediately responded and were able to stretch the margin to as many as seven at 20-13. FIU fought off three set points, but a Zuri Smith solo block tied the match at one set each.
The third set was nip and tuck from the outset, with neither side able to take a lead larger than three points in the early going. FIU held a 12-11 edge when the Owls took the next five points to go up 16-12. The Panthers refused to go away and got as close as a point at 24-23, but Smith and Yauch teamed up on a block that ended the frame and allowed FAU to take a two sets to one lead.
Similar to the first set, FIU took advantage of a quick start to build a 7-2 cushion. The Panthers were able to hold off FAU for most of the set and held a 21-18 lead late, but the Owls made a huge closing push, going on a 7-1 run, capped by a Kori Varney service ace, to take the match.
Notables
· Sigourney Kame led all players with a season-high 16 kills, giving her 1,087 for her career, passing Lori Lombard for seventh place in school history
· Massiel Matos had 13 kills and 12 digs for her 16th career double-double
· Zuri Smith notched a career-high nine total blocks and added three kills
· Kori Varney registered 12 digs
· Cailea Gibbs posted nine kills and three blocks
· Sydney Nemtuda collected 11 digs, six kills, five block assists and four service aces
· With the win, the Owls evened the all-time series with FIU 31-31
Quotable
Senior Sigourney Kame
On winning the conference opener
“It feels amazing…especially since it was a hard weekend (in Orlando) last week, but Coach (Nelson) did a great job of reminding us ‘shake it off, it’s in the past, we keep moving forward’. We trained hard this week to be able to win as a team and it feels really good, so thank God.”
What’s Next
FAU makes its first C-USA road trip of the season, playing at Louisiana Tech on Friday, Oct. 4 and at FIU on Sunday, Oct. 6. Links to live stats and live video for both matches 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.
