Hurricanes Volleyball Collects 3-0 Sweep of Albany

Sept. 12, 2009

Box Score | Box Score in PDF Format

Coral Gables, Fla. – Sophomore Lane Carico supplied 10 kills and Katie Gallagher handed out 35 assists to help the University of Miami volleyball team power past the University of Albany, 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-20), Saturday evening at the James L. Knight Sports Complex in Coral Gables, Fla. The match was the final one for UM in the Miami/FIU Invitational.

Playing the third consecutive 2008 NCAA Tournament participant in as many days, Miami (7-2) played solid volleyball on Saturday in order to earn the win. The Hurricanes hit a solid .256 clip (44-12-125) as a team and pulled together 11 total blocks.

Miami led 9-8 in the first set when an Albany (4-5) service error allowed sophomore Ali Becker to slam home a kill on the ensuing play to start a 4-1 run that stretched the UM advantage at 13-10. Following an Albany timeout, the Great Danes’ Brooke Stanley collected a kill to bring her team within 14-13.

Becker added another of her team-high tying four kills in the opening set to edge UM back out a little further, 17-14.

Albany took the lead at 20-19 when Hillary White placed a kill in the middle, aided by a UM blocking error. Moments later, an attack error by Albany, as well as another timely Becker kill, put the `Canes back in front, 21-20.

With the set tied, 22-22, UM closed it out on a 3-0 run as Genny Mayhew registered a kill and senior Griffin Udelson served an ace to give UM the set, 25-22.

In the second set, Miami hit a match-high .319 percentage (17-2-47) as junior Lici McGee placed five kills and a block assist.

After trailing 1-0 in the opening, UM quickly grabbed the lead and never relinquished it en route to the second set win, 25-21.

The `Canes led 18-12 as Lane Carico and Maria Andersson each had kills during an important run for Miami. Albany called a timeout, and then fought back to within 20-15 before UM head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch called timeout.

Blocks from McGee and Katie Gallagher put UM at set-point, 24-21, and an attack error charged to the Great Danes closed the set in favor of the Hurricanes.

The `Canes led 11-10 in the third set when McGee posted a kill that began a 5-2 run that increased the UM lead, 16-12.

After an Albany timeout, the Great Danes used a pair of blocks from Kelly Corkum and Traci Vandergrift to bring Albany to within 19-18. But Miami quickly responded as Lici McGee had three consecutive blocks, helped by Gallagher and Carico at the net, to push the Miami lead back out to a 22-18 advantage late in the match.

A shot down the middle for Carico ended the match, 25-20, giving Miami its second consecutive win over an NCAA Tournament team from a year ago.

Albany was led on the night by Valerie Sourbeer with a match-high 13 kills, while teammate Hillary White followed with 11. Setter Brooke Stanley posted a double-double with 34 assists and 16 digs, and libero Laurie Gonzalez grabbed a match-high 21 digs with four assists.

Miami was led in kills by Carico (10), while Genny Mayhew and Becker each had eight. McGee used seven kills and seven blocks (five assists), while Gallagher had 35 assists, eight digs, five kills and five blocks for a solid overall performance.

For McGee, this is her third match of the season grabbing five or more blocks. She leads all UM players with 37 on the year.

Senior Cassie Loessberg registered 17 digs – now sitting just 11 digs shy of breaking the school’s all-time digs mark. Mayhew needs 22 kills to top the 1,000-kill plateau.

Miami will be back in action next weekend, traveling to the Seminole Tri-Match in Tallahassee, Fla. The `Canes will open Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play against homestanding Florida State on Saturday, Sept. 18 at 6 p.m. They will then take on Notre Dame the following day at 2 p.m.

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.

Miami/FIU Invitational All-Tournament Team
Miami – Genny Mayhew & Lici McGee
Albany – Brooke Stanley & Valerie Sourbeer
FIU – Natalia Valentin & Olga Vergun
Florida State – Mira Djuric & Brianna Barry
Middle Tennessee State – Ashley Mead & Stacy Oladinni