BOCA RATON, Fla. – (Aug. 30, 2019) – The Florida Atlantic University volleyball team opened its season with a sweep of Grambling State (25-6, 25-11, 25-19) and defeated Stetson in four sets (20-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-17) to take the FAU Invitational title on Friday. In the process, the Owls (2-0) extended their school record winning streak to 17.
Match 1 vs. Grambling State
Key Plays
A pair of extended serving runs gave the Owls a 7-1 lead early in the first set and they concluded on a 12-0 rally to win the frame 25-6.
The second set similarly began with FAU building a 7-1 advantage. The Tigers scored the next four points to trim the lead to two before the Owls pulled away on their way to a 25-11 victory.
Set number three was the most competitive of the match with Grambling taking a 5-2 edge early on. Kori Varney’s serving helped the Owls score six points in a row to take the lead, 8-5. Grambling tied the score five different times, the final one coming at 18-18, when the Owls reeled off four straight points, eventually taking the set 25-19 to clinch the match.
Notables
· Massiel Matos led all players with nine kills
· Cailea Gibbs had seven kills and six total blocks
· Nikki Lakman had 16 assists
· Varney had a match-high nine digs
Match 2 vs. Stetson
Key Plays
After a hot start to the first set by the Owls, Stetson rallied from a 9-3 deficit to level the sides at 10-10. The two teams exchanged the next 10 points, but the Hatters were able to build a modest lead. A Cailea Gibbs kill pulled FAU to within a point at 20-19, but Stetson took five of the next six to win the set.
Sydney Nemtuda’s serving helped FAU establish a small cushion early in set number two, but as was the case all night, Stetson rallied to even the score. Three straight points for the Owls reestablished their lost momentum, and they were able to increase their margin down the stretch, tying the match with a 25-16 decision.
It was Stetson’s turn to get out of the blocks early in the third set, holding an early 6-1 edge. The Owls clawed their way back and eventually tied the score at 15-all. The score was tied 17-17 when FAU went on a decisive 8-3 spurt to take the frame.
In the fourth set, a Zuri Smith kill and Gibbs block broke an 8-8 deadlock to put FAU ahead. The Hatters whittled the lead down to one on three different occasions, but six straight Owl points helped to seal the FAU win.
Notables
· Nemtuda led the Owls in kills (15) and digs (18) for her fifth career double-double, on her way to MVP honors
· Jordan Yauch had 14 kills in the match
· Cailea Gibbs posted 11 kills, four digs, and three assists in the victory. Massiel Matos added 11 kills and eight digs of her own
· Kori Varney had a match-high 19 digs
Quotable
Junior Sydney Nemtuda
“I thought the whole team connected really well. We had a lot of energy and a lot of fun. You could tell that we were playing our best.”
Upcoming
Saturday’s match against Niagara has been canceled. The Owls will travel to Fort Worth, Texas for next weekend’s Fight for the Fort Tournament, hosted by TCU.
-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.
