Owls Drop a Pair at the Sunshine State Challenge

Saturday, September 21

Orlando, Fla.

1:30 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

5-3

Florida Gulf Coast

8-2

Fla. Atlantic

FGCU

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

9/21/2019 10:57:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Florida Atlantic University volleyball team lost both of its matches at the Sunshine State Challenge on Saturday, losing to Florida Gulf Coast (25-14, 25-14, 25-18) and UCF (25-15, 25-18, 25-15).

Match 1 vs. Florida Gulf Coast
Key Plays
The first set was tight early and a Sigourney Kame kill tied the score at 10. From there, the Eagles finished on a 15-4 rally to take the frame 25-14.

That momentum carried over to the second set as FGCU built an early 7-3 lead. The Owls never got closer than three and another late Eagle run helped seal the 25-14 win, putting FAU down two sets to none.

Set number three began with the Eagles building another modest cushion. Kills by Jordan Yauch and Sydney Nemtuda trimmed the Owls' deficit to one, but FGCU answered with five straight points and the lead remained at least four the rest of the way, with the Eagles eventually winning 25-18.

Notables

Nemtuda led the Owls with 11 kills
Stephanie Young posted 15 assists and four digs
Massiel Matos tallied 11 digs and added five kills
Nikki Lakman dished out 11 assists and five digs

Match 2 vs. UCF
Key Plays
UCF won the first five points of the match and the Owls were unable to recover, ultimately losing the set 25-15.

Another quick start for the Knights gave them an 11-5 lead in set number two, and once again, FAU couldn't overcome the deficit, falling 25-18 to go down by two sets.

The third set followed a similar pattern, as UCF crafted a 7-3 cushion early on. The Knights extended the margin as play continued and took a 25-15 decision to complete the sweep.

Notables

Yauch had seven kills, followed by Sydney Riggs and Zuri Smith with six each
Smith also tallied three total blocks
Nemtuda posted five kills and eight digs
Lakman registered 16 assists and eight digs, while Young finished with 11 assists and four digs

Quotable
FAU Head Coach Fernanda Nelson
"We scheduled strong teams to increase the level of competition we faced and the competition was great this weekend."

Upcoming
The Owls open Conference USA play at home against FIU as they look to increase their school record winning streak on Friday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. Live stats and live video will be available at fausports.com and live updates will be available through the team's official Twitter account, @FAUVolleyball.