Hurricanes Travel West for Furama Hotel Invitational at Loyola Marymount

Sept. 9, 2004

Coral Gables, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s volleyball team will travel to Los Angeles, Calf. to take part in the Furama Hotel Invitational hosted by Loyola Marymount University.

The Hurricanes are slated to take on No. 22 LMU, Washington State and Cincinnati in the two day tournament.

“We’re very excited and anxious to play again,” said head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch. “We’re looking forward to the competition. LMU is currently ranked, Cincinnati is getting votes and Washington State comes from the tough Pac-10 conference so we’ll be tested each time out.”

Miami (1-0) enters the tournament ranked third in the ACC after defeating Florida International, 3-0, in their season opener September 1st. Junior outside hitter Valeria Tipiana led all players with 12 kills, five service aces and a stellar .450 hitting percentage while tallying seven digs. She reached a career milestone by recording her 1,000 and 1,001 career kill while becoming the only Miami player to reach that feat. The Hurricanes were forced to cancel the annual Hurricane Invitational due to Hurricane Frances, missing out on matches against Rice, Bowling Green and No. 16 Illinois.

The Hurricanes will kick off the weekend on Friday, Sept. 10 with tournament host No. 22 LMU at 7:00 pm (PST). The Lions (3-1) enter the weekend after defeating Cal-State Fullerton in three games.

UM will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 5 to face WSU at 10:00 am. The Cougars are winless in four tries this season, most recently falling to No. 10 Colorado State, 3-1, in their season opener on Thursday.

The Hurricanes will wrap up the tournament with Cincinnati, who earned a share of last season’s Conference USA regular season title, and currently hold an undefeated record through four matches. The Bearcats most recently defeated Miami (Ohio), 3-0, to run their undefeated home record to 18 straight victories and are getting votes in the USA Today/CSTV National Poll.