Volleyball Travels to Gainesville for NCAA Tournament

Dec. 1, 2009

Complete Match Notes in PDF Format

Coral Gables, Fla. – The University of Miami volleyball team will open its NCAA Tournament run on Thursday, Dec. 3, facing cross-town rival FIU at 5 p.m., inside the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla. The match is the first of the Gainesville Regional, hosted by the University of Florida.

Miami (18-12) ended its Atlantic Coast Conference slate with a record of 11-9, tying North Carolina for fifth place in the final league standings. The Hurricanes enter the tournament having won two of their last three matches, the lone loss being a 3-1 setback to ACC- and in-state rival Florida State–ranked No. 14 at the time.

The Hurricanes are led offensively by All-ACC candidate and All-America nominee sophomore outside hitter Lane Carico (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), with a league-leading 485 kills and 528.5 points on the year. Carico has a league-best 19 double-doubles on the year, and owns a team second-best 387 digs defensively.

Freshman setter Nrithya Sundararaman (Naperville, Ill.), has stepped in for Katie Gallagher and performed nicely with a team-best 887 assists, while senior libero and All-ACC nominee Cassie Loessberg (Sacramento, Calif.), owns a league-leading 5.05 digs per set average (560 total digs).

Junior middle blocker Lici McGee (Warr Acres, Okla.), leads the `Canes at the net with 111 total blocks (1.04 bps), and three other Miami players have gained over 200 kills. McGee has a team second-best 235 kills, and teammate Ali Becker (Katy, Texas), has 218 kills and 89 blocks.

The last time Miami went to the NCAA Tournament was in 2002 when they advanced to the Round of 16 with defeats of Duke and 15th-ranked Wisconsin in the opening rounds in Madison, Wis. The Hurricanes fell to 14th-ranked Nebraska the following weekend in Lincoln, Neb.

For more information on the NCAA Tournament [Gainesville Regional], please click here.

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.

Quick Hits on FIU
FIU, regular season champs out of the Sun Belt Conference, is earning its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Before falling to Middle Tennessee State in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament title match, FIU had rolled off 23 consecutive wins dating back Sept. 18. The Golden Panthers enter the tournament working with a 31-3 record, having won 24 of their last 25 matches, including a 3-0 sweep of in-state foe Florida A&M in their last match (Nov. 28).

The Golden Panthers are led by All-America candidate Yarimar Rosa and Olga Vernun. Rosa leads FIU with 363 kills (4.78 kps), and Vernun is just behind with 347 kills (2.99 kps). The libero for the Golden Panthers is Chanel Araujo, leading the way with 331 digs (2.85 dps), while teammate Natalia Valentin is second on the squad with 327 digs (2.87 dps). Valentin also serves as the setter for FIU, leading the team with 1,364 assists (11.96 aps).

Series against FIU
FIU leads the all-time series between the two schools by a count of 23-11. That includes the Golden Panthers’ 3-0 victory over the `Canes earlier in the year in the opening match of the Miami/FIU Invitational–with the match taking place at FIU. Prior to dropping this season’s only meeting; the last time the two teams met was in 2004 with Miami claiming that contest, 3-0.

Last Time vs. FIU (9/10/09)
Three FIU players registered double-digit kills to lead the FIU Golden Panthers past the University of Miami Hurricanes, 3-0 (26-24, 26-24, 25-17) at U.S. Century Bank Arena in Miami. The match was the opening of the inaugural Miami/FIU Invitational hosted by UM and FIU.

Miami was held to 43 points and just 34 kills on in the match. In the process, the Hurricanes were unable to place a player in double-figures in the kills category. The Hurricanes were paced by Genny Mayhew’s eight kills and six digs. Behind her were Carico and McGee, each collecting seven kills. McGee added a team-best four blocks, while setter Katie Gallagher put up 27 assists, seven digs and three blocks (assisted).

FIU was led by Rosa’s 17 kills and 11 digs, while teammates Vergun (13) and Sabrina Gonzalez (10) both added double figures for kills. Libero Chanel Araujo collected a match-high 18 digs.

Looking at Florida
Florida owns a national ranking of No. 14 and is 23-5 on the season heading into the NCAA Tournament. The Gators registered a record of 16-4 in SEC action in 2009 and are coming off a 3-1 win over then-No. 25 Notre Dame on Nov. 28. Leading the Florida offense is Kristy Jaeckel (322 kills, 3.25 kps) and Kelly Murphy (671 assists, 6.78 aps). Jaeckel also leads the team in service aces with 27. The Gators defense is led by Cassandra Anderson (124 blocks, 1.25 bps) and Elyse Cusack (458 digs, 4.63 dps).

Looking at College of Charleston
The Cougars bring a record of 18-12 into NCAA Tournament play after posting a Southern Conference mark of 12-4 in 2009. The College of Charleston is coming off its sixth conference tournament title in eight years, earning the SoCon’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. Offensively, the Cougars are led by Sarah Haval (298 kills, 2.61 kps) and Cole Dawley (1,084 assists, 9.77 aps), while Havel also leads the team in service aces with 21. Havel owns a team-best 112 blocks (0.98 bps) to lead the College of Charleston defense and Paige Johnson is tops on the team in digs with 429 (3.73 dps).