Miami Drops Virginia, 3-1, to Collect First ACC Win

Sept. 25, 2009

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Coral Gables, Fla. – Sophomore Lane Carico amassed a match-high 21 kills and senior Maria Andersson supplied another 13 to help lead the University of Miami volleyball team past the University of Virginia, 3-1 (25-22, 18-25, 25-21, 25-21), on Friday night at the James L. Knight Sports Complex in Coral Gables, Fla.

Miami (8-4, 1-1 ACC) was happy to return home Friday night, and eagerly awaiting the Virginia Cavaliers (6-7, 1-1 ACC) in a rematch of what was a critical loss for the Hurricanes a year ago in Charlottesville, Va. Many feel the match was one of a possible two that kept the Hurricanes out of the NCAA Tournament.

UM took the upper-hand late in the first set as Lane Carico recorded consecutive kills to put the `Canes on top, 15-13. The lead would wobble back-and-forth between a one- and two-point edge for the `Canes until Maria Andersson hammered home back-to-back kills to widen the lead, 20-16.

Miami would increase its lead at 21-16 following a block from freshman Nrithya Sundararaman, stepping in at setter tonight for Katie Gallagher.

After the Cavaliers cut the UM advantage to 22-21, Andersson collected a kill and Sundararaman served an ace to put UM at set-point, 24-21. The Hurricanes collected the set, 25-22, courtesy an attack error charged to the Cavaliers.

Miami outhit its opponent in the opening set, .350 to .190. The `Canes had 17 kills to just three errors in the opener, swinging on 42 attacks.

Virginia bounced back in the second set to post a .312 clip (14-4-32) as Kendahl Voelker supplied the Cavs with four kills. Simone Asque and Jessica O’Shoney each tallied three kills of their own to lead Virginia to the 25-18 victory in the second set–knotting the match at 1-1.

Carico had a set-high seven kills for the `Canes.

In the third set, UM trailed 8-6 before Lici McGee put down a kill, followed by back-to-back errors charged to Virginia, moving the Hurricanes in front, 9-8. Miami would increase the lead to 13-10 with a service ace from Andersson, as well as another Cavaliers error.

Following a Virginia timeout, Miami continued its scoring run pouring in four more points with a kill from Ali Becker and Carico in the stretch run.

UM led 17-10 before Virginia stopped Andersson’s serve at six points as Asque downed a kill.

Becker would register four more kills in the set, and Andersson would secure a new season-high with another three kills of her own to give Miami the set win, 25-21.

Heading into the fifth set, the Hurricanes were determined to try and close-out the win after falling in five sets last year to the Cavaliers–after previously leading the match, 2-0.

Miami charged out to a 13-6 lead midway through the fourth set with Carico leading the charge with six kills.

McGee recorded three of her 11 kills in the set, and Ariell Cooke came off the bench for three kills to help guide the `Canes to the 25-21 decision, and the match victory.

Virginia was led on the night by Simone Asque with 16 kills, while teammate Sydney Hill placed in double-digits with 10 kills and four blocks (assisted). Rachel Gray led the Cavs with 40 assists, and libero AJ Cushman paced the defense with 19 digs. Lauren Dickson had 16 digs for the Cavs, as well as nine kills.

UM was led on the evening by Carico’s 21 kills–falling just short of a career-high tying mark from earlier in the year against USF in the Hurricane Invitational. Carico tallied her second double-double of the season with 17 digs, also collecting two blocks (one solo).

Andersson had a season-high 13 kills and her first double-double of the year with 10 digs. Meanwhile, McGee stepped in for 11 kills and three blocks (two solo). Sundararaman had a double-double effort of a match-high 49 assists and 14 digs, adding a solo block in the process.

Honored before the match for becoming the school’s all-time leader in digs, Cassie Loessberg picked up a match-high 27 digs, while also posting two assists and a kill.

Miami will continue its four-match homestand on Sunday, hosting the Virginia Tech Hokies at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the door, and live play-by-play will be available via the internet by logging on to www.wvum.org.

For more information on the University of Miami Volleyball team, please log on to www.hurricanesports.com. Once there, you will find up-to-date news, stats and information regarding the Hurricanes Volleyball program.