Owls Fall to No. 19 WKU in C-USA Semifinals

Saturday, November 23

1 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

16-11

WKU

30-1

FAU

WKU

Photo by: Maria Lysaker

11/23/2019 4:07:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

HOUSTON, TEXAS - The Florida Atlantic University volleyball team lost to No. 19 WKU in straight sets (25-20, 25-20, 25-18) in the Conference USA Tournament semifinals on Saturday. The Owls finish the season with a 16-11 record.

Key Plays
The first set was tied 5-5 when WKU (30-1) went on a 6-1 rally to take an 11-5 advantage. The lead stretched to as many as eight before the Owls scored four straight points to cut the margin in half. However, a Hilltopper kill ended the first set 25-20 for WKU.

Strong serving helped WKU take a 5-1 lead in set number two. FAU steadily narrowed the deficit, pulling to within a point on three separate occasions, but the Hilltoppers closed on a 7-3 spurt to take the set 25-20 and go up two sets to none.

The third set fell into a pattern of the Hilltoppers building a small lead, followed by the Owls coming back to pull close. Zuri Smith put down a kill, then Jordan Yauch and Cailea Gibbs teamed up on a block to trim WKU's cushion to 17-15. The Hilltoppers had a strong finish, and ultimately won the set 25-18 to complete the sweep.

Notables

Massiel Matos led the Owls with 12 kills
Zuri Smith had eight kills and two block assists
Sydney Nemtuda posted seven kills and tied her career-high with four service aces
Sigourney Kame finished her FAU career third in program history in kills (1,171)
Cailea Gibbs (.284), Jordan Yauch (.278) and Sigourney Kame (.276) are sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively, on the school's all-time career hitting percentage list
Of the top-10 players on the FAU career hitting percentage list, Fernanda Nelson has coached five (Abbi Reid, Brittney Brown)
Six consecutive winning seasons is a school record for the Owls