Miami Volleyball Overtakes Central Florida, 3-1
Nov. 4, 2003
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (hurricanesports.com) – Senior outside hitter Leyre Santaella Sante (San Juan, Puerto Rico) turned in 19 kills to lead the Hurricanes to a 3-1 (30-21, 30-16, 28-30, 30-28) victory over Central Florida on Tuesday night at the Convocation Center.
The Hurricanes (20-7) came out strong against UCF (18-6), overpowering the Golden Knights in the first game, 30-21 and 30-16 in the second slate. Central Florida would answer in the third game, downing UM, 30-28, but Miami would respond in the fourth game, winning 30-28 to seal the victory.
Santaella Sante, a transfer from UCF in 2003, posted a .250 hitting percentage and added five digs against her former team. Last season at Central Florida, Santaella Sante was named the Atlantic Sun Conference’s Player of the Year prior to transferring to Miami.
Sophomore defensive specialist Kaitlin Kozak (Huntingdon, Pa.) led the Hurricanes with a career-high 16 digs.
UM dominated from the middle positions with redshirt freshman middle blocker Francheska Savage (Ft. Myers, Fla.) tallying 10 kills on 21 attempts and no errors for a .476 percentage. Sophomore middle blocker Karla Johnson (Houston, Texas) was a force up the middle for UM, turning in five total blocks along with 13 kills and eight digs and sophomore Robin Lewullis (Allentown, Pa.) added 12 kills for a .310 hitting percentage and two solo blocks in the win.
“I thought Frannie played great,” Head Coach Nicole Lantagne Welch said. “I believe this is the first time in her career she has had an error-less match. Leyre came up big attacking for and came up with some big points. Robin Lewullis continues to improve and played very well from the right side. She had a solid performance.”
UCF’s Emily Watts led all players with a match-high 20 kills to go along with 14 digs while the Golden Knights’ Jenny Frank had 53 assist.
The Hurricanes broke new ground against the Golden Knights, playing in the Convocation Center for the first time since the opening of the building in January of 2003.
“It was exciting playing in the Convocation Center,” Lantagne Welch said. “The atmosphere and energy in the arena was great.”
The Hurricanes will hit the court again on Friday, Nov. 7, returning to BIG EAST play against Syracuse in New York at 7 p.m.
