Hurricanes Overpower Wolfpack in 3-0 Sweep
Oct. 15, 2004
Coral Gables, Fla.- – The University of Miami women’s volleyball team picked up their seventh three-game sweep of the season and their fourth ACC win, when they defeated NC State, 3-0 (30-21, 30-27, 30-24), Friday night at the Knight Sports Complex. The Hurricanes are now 9-6 overall and improved to 4-3 in ACC play.
Senior outside hitter Ashley Youngs led all players with 12 kills in 25 attempts to go along with six digs. Also recording double-digit kills was junior outside hitter Karla Johnson who hit 10 kills and posted her first two solo blocks of the season.
Senior outside hitter Valeria Tipiana was 9-for-20 for a .400 hitting percentage while redshirt sophomore middle blocker Francheska Savage tallied eight kills. Sophomore setter Jill Robinson led all players with 42 assists. Senior libero Jamie Grass registered a match-high 11 digs.
The Wolfpack were led by Stefani Eddins and Adeola Kosoko who tallied six kills apiece. Seven NC State players posted blocks in the match.
“It was a great defensive effort,” said head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch. “We did a nice job blocking pin to pin.”
The Hurricanes held the Wolfpack to a stingy .080 hitting percentage while forcing 22 errors. NC State, however, showed why they lead the ACC in blocks per game, posting 11.0 total blocks against Miami.
“We tried to move the attack around a lot more,” continued Lantagne Welch. “They’re a good blocking team so we tried to spread out the attack.”
The Hurricanes wasted no time taking a 10-3 lead early in game one. The Wolfpack rallied for four points but they could not solve the Hurricanes who took the 30-21 win after a Youngs kill.
The beginning of game two saw much of the same as the Hurricanes jumped to a 18-9 lead. NC State capitalized on five Miami errors to bring the score to 28-24 and later picked up four more points with the Hurricanes at game point. Johnson’s kill ended the rally and put the game away, 30-27.
A fired-up NC State squad took the court in game three taking an early 10-8 lead. The Hurricanes tied the score at 11-all and took the lead after one of eight Wolfpack errors. The Hurricanes rallied with an eight point run to bring the score to 16-12. Miami did not trail the rest of the way, eventually taking the game 30-24.
The Hurricanes return to action when they host North Carolina Sunday at 1:00 pm in the Knight Sports Complex.
