Hurricanes dominate home tourney, remain undefeated
Sept. 7, 2002
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – – The CORAL GABLES, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – The University of Miami women’s volleyball team refused to yield even a single game in its home tournament Friday and Saturday, sweeping all three opponents.
The Hurricanes completed tournament play with a 3-0 sweep of Fordham Saturday afternoon, extending their winning streak to 18 games (seven this season).
“I’m extremely pleased with the way we played this weekend,” coach Nicole Lantagne Welch said. “We came out here and defended our home court. We had an excellent long battle with the University of Oregon (Friday) night and we just persisted and persisted and that final game went back and forth and back and forth, but we just played so composed. I’m really proud of the team.”
Senior outside hitter Marcela Gamarra (Medellin, Colombia/Miami-Dade CC) was selected as the tournament MVP. In the final match, Gamarra led with 14 kills. She also had seven digs on defense.
“Marcela is just our big gun and our leader out there and I think that this weekend she was just really intense and got our team going,” Lantagne Welch noted. “Any time there was a lull on the court, she would get the kill that we needed. She really came through huge for us. She’s a great player and a great person on our team.”
Other Hurricanes selected to the all-tournament team were sophomore rightside hitter Valeria Tipiana (Lima, Peru/Cristo Rey HS) and sophomore outside hitter Elizabeth Tyson (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kenney HS).
Tipiana was crucial in the tournament-sealing sweep of Fordham, leading her team in the attack-percentage category with a match-high .643. She chipped in five digs on defense.
Margie Young (Santa Monica, Calif./Marymount HS) dealt out 41 assists in the final match.
Also selected to the all-tournament team were Roxanne Hill of Fordham and Lindsay Closs and Kelly Russell of Oregon.
