Hurricanes Set to Take on Wake Forest
Sept. 30, 2004
Coral Gables, Fla. –
The University of Miami volleyball team (5-4) is set to take on ACC opponent Wake Forest Friday at 7:00 pm in the Knight Sports Complex.
The Hurricanes come off their first-ever ACC weekend that saw them sweep in-state rival Florida State, 3-0, in their home opener Friday before suffering a five game heartbreaking loss to Virginia Tech Sunday afternoon.
Offensively, the Hurricanes are led by senior rightside hitter Valeria Tipiana, junior outside hitter Karla Johnson and sophomore setter Jill Robinson. All three players have made their mark in the ACC and sit among the top ten in four respective categories.
Tipiana, who posted her first double-double of the season with a 26 kill, 10 digs performance against Virginia Tech, is first among the league in service aces per game (28/0.82pg). The total also places her third in the NCAA. The Lima, Peru native is seventh in the ACC in hitting percentage (.342) and fifth in kills per game (165/4.85pg).
Johnson is tenth in the ACC in both kills (128/3.76pg) and service aces (13/0.38pg) which also places her second on the team in both categories.
Robinson joined the NCAA ranks when her 13.15 assists per game placed her 25th among Division I players. She posted her third double-double of the season against Virginia Tech when she tallied a season-high 60 assists and 18 digs.
On defense the Hurricanes have been helped by the stellar play from redshirt freshman Ciara Michel and senior libero Jamie Grass. Michel is currently tied for first in the league in blocks (51.0/1.50pg) and is tenth in hitting percentage (.315). The Miami native posted a season-high 11 total blocks against Virginia Tech on Sunday. Grass is taking the court after her best defensive performance of the season, a 22 dig effort against Florida State. She sits seventh in the ACC in digs per game (128/3.76pg).
As a team, the Hurricanes remain seventh in the ACC standings after four weeks of play. They are hitting .243; good for fourth in the ACC. Miami is also second in assists per game (15.03) and third in kills (15.82) and service aces (2.00).
Wake Forest enters Friday’s contest with an 8-4 overall record while going winless in two tries against ACC opponents. They most recently dropped a 3-1 decision to Maryland on Saturday. The Demon Deacons were ranked 10th in the September 28th ACC standings.Going into the fourth week of the season Wake Forest is currently second in the ACC in hitting percentage and fourth in kills and blocks. They are also 26th in the NCAA in hitting percentage (0.267).
Morgan Havig leads the Demon Deacons with a .440 hitting percentage, which also places her fourth in the NCAA. Teammate Valerie Rydberg is currently eighth in the league in kills (155/3.78pg) while Erin Borhart is ninth in assists (487/11.07).
Friday night’s match will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
“Every match is a battle in the ACC,” said head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch. “We’re looking forward to playing at home this weekend.”
