Miami Handles Middle Tennessee State in Volleyball, 3-1

Sept. 11, 2009

Box Score | Box Score in PDF Format

Coral Gables, Fla. – Cassie Loessberg had 32 digs and Genny Mayhew supplied 13 kills to help lead the University of Miami over Middle Tennessee State, 3-0 (23-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-19), in volleyball action Friday evening at the James L. Knight Sports Complex in Coral Gables, Fla. The match was part of the inaugural Miami/FIU Invitational.

Miami (6-2) got a solid performance from a variety of players Friday evening, while fending off an NCAA Tournament second round opponent from the 2008 season in Middle Tennessee State.

MTSU (5-4) trailed 9-7 in the opening set following a Katie Gallagher kill off an assist from Miami’s Mayhew. That’s when Stacy Oladinni collected one of her five kills in the set to begin a 6-1 run for the Blue Raiders. MTSU advanced in front, 13-10, when teammates Leslie Clark and Alyssa Wistrick collected blocks at the net.

UM stormed back behind four kills in the set from Mayhew and Ali Becker, to take a 19-18 edge before MTSU requested a timeout.

The teams traded the lead back-and-forth until the Hurricanes’ Mayhew punched in a kill to knot the set, 23-23. A kill from the MTSU’s Ashley Meade was preceded by a kill from Janay Yancey to give the Blue Raiders the opening set, 25-23.

The Hurricanes fell behind 6-2 in the second set before freshman Nrithya Sundararaman and sophomore Becker combined for a block to bring UM to within 6-4. Miami continued to scrape away at the lead, but the Blue Raiders always seemed to have answer.

UM trailed 11-10 when MTSU’s Clark added a kill and a block–assisted alongside Wistrick, to push their lead out to 14-11. A service ace from Miami senior Maria Andersson seven points later tied the set at 16-16–the first tie of the set. One play later, blocks from Mayhew, Gallagher and Andersson gave UM its first lead of the set, 17-16.

MTSU stepped back out to a two-point edge, 22-20, with a kill from Clark (one of two in the set) and another from Meade. UM quickly snapped back to knot the score, 22-22, when Sundararaman and Becker combined for blocks at the net on an attack from Mead.

The `Canes took a 24-23 advantage following a solo block from McGee–one of four in the match for the Warr Acres, Okla. native, before MTSU was allowed to tie the score again (24-24) with a service error charged to UM.

Gallagher’s kill from the middle off a dig from Cassie Loessberg evened the match at 1-1 with UM collected the set, 26-24.

Lane Carico stepped up her game for UM with five kills in the third set as the `Canes ran out to a 5-2 lead, and never looked back.

UM stretched its lead to 12-3 following a Carico kill, and pushed it further at 19-10 when MTSU was charged with one of five attack errors in the set. Mayhew’s kill from the left side put UM at set point, 24-15. Miami earned the set, 25-17, when the Blue Raiders were charged with a service error.

As a team, MTSU committed 16 service errors on the night–almost double the previous high by an opponent–nine from FIU last night.

As for Miami’s defensive efforts, Loessberg registered 32 digs for the `Canes in just the first three sets.

In the fourth set, the `Canes used hitting and accuracy to close-out the match. As a team, they recorded the second-highest hitting percentage in a set this season, sporting a .520 clip (14-1-25). MTSU countered with a .233 mark (12-5-30).

With Miami trailing 12-10 in the fourth set, Gallagher and Becker stepped to the net for assisted blocks, while a ball handling error was charged to the MTSU setter on the next play. That tied the set, 12-12.

UM regained the lead at 15-14 (its first lead since 7-6) as Sundararaman took a Gallagher assist for a kill. McGee’s kill down the middle moments later started a 3-0 Hurricanes run that pushed the lead out to 19-16. Mayhew posted back-to-back kills down the stretch to close the set and match, 25-19, in favor of Miami.

Miami had a team second-best 12.5 blocks on the night, while hitting a.293 clip (56-17-133).

Middle Tennessee State was led by Ashley Mead with 13 kills, adding to her numbers from the previous match, to give her a two-match total of 37 kills on the day. Behind her were Oladinni (11) and Izabela Kozon (10) also touching double-digits for kills. The setting duties were supplied by Clark with 43 assists, while libero Brynne Henderson led the defensive charge with 19 digs.

Miami was led by Carico’s 14-kill night, and Mayhew’s 13 kills and two blocks. Carico also had six digs and one solo block. McGee finished with nine kills and four blocks (three assists). Setter Gallagher handed out 47 assists, and collected five assisted blocks.

The defensive efforts were sparked by Loessberg with a match-high 32 digs. It was the 28th time in her career she’s topped 20-or more digs, and the third time this season she’s accumulated 30-or more digs.

Loessberg needs 28 digs to become the school’s all-time leader in digs, hoping to pass Jamie Grass (2001-04). Loessberg has 1,594 digs in her career.

Miami jumps back out onto the court Saturday evening playing host to the University of Albany at 6 p.m. back at the James L. Knight Sports Complex on the campus of UM. Albany defeated MTSU earlier in the day, while then falling to FIU in the evening match.

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.