Hurricanes Conclude Spring Tournament Schedule with Scrimmages against Florida A&M, Miami-Dade CC
April 19, 2004
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami volleyball team wrapped up their fourth and final spring tournament Saturday, hosting Florida A&M and Miami-Dade CC in a series of scrimmages at the Knight Sports Complex.
The Hurricanes took on the Rattlers and MDCC each in a pair of modified match formats, playing two games to 30 points in the morning and returning in the afternoon to play one game to 30 points and one to 15.
Miami split a pair of games with FAMU in the first match, falling 30-27 in game one before bouncing back 30-20 in game two.
The Hurricanes would also break even with Miami-Dade, winning 30-23 in the first game and dropping the second game, 30-27.
In the afternoon session, UM once again split with the Rattlers, losing the first game, 30-28 and taking the second game, 15-7 before sweeping Miami-Dade in the final two games.
Sara Duncan had an impressive performance from the outside in Saturday’s matches, totaling 22 kills with a .283 hitting percentage.
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Karla Johnson (left) stood out as one of the Hurricanes best players this spring. |
Middle blocker Karla Johnson, who has also seen time this spring at outside hitter for the first time in her career, had one of the best all-around outings of the day with 32 kills on a .338 hitting percentage, nine digs, 11 total blocks – five solo, six assists – and a team-leading 42 points.
“Sara Duncan had one of her best tournaments of the spring and Karla Johnson continued to play well for us, playing both middle blocker and on the outside,” Head Coach Nicole Lantagne Welch said.
Ann Gallo and Ciara Michel made strides on the defensive side of the net for UM in Saturday’s scrimmages as Gallo finished the day with nine digs and Michel tallied ten total blocks – two solo, eight assists. Michel also paced the Hurricanes with a .429 hitting percentage in the four matches.
Saturday’s scrimmage marked the end of the Hurricanes’ sixth week of spring practice. With several returning starters from 2003’s squad forced to miss time during the spring for various reasons, Lantagne Welch was able add to Miami’s depth by experimenting with different lineups and position changes.
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress this spring,” Lantagne Welch said. “We had several players who saw significant playing time and gained valuable experience.”
“I feel our team also learned a lot about themselves over the past couple of weeks,” Lantagne Welch added. “We had a lot of players out this spring, so our team really had to learn how to deal with and overcome adversity.”
The Hurricanes will kick-off the inaugural season in the Atlantic Coast Conference Sept. 1, traveling across town to take on Florida International before hosting Illinois, Rice and Bowling Green at the annual Hurricane Invitational Sept. 3-4 at the Knight Sports Complex.
