Hurricanes Embark on Final Road Swing of the Season
Nov. 10, 2005
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami volleyball team will embark on its final road swing of the season when it travels to Virginia Tech and Virginia this weekend. The Hurricanes will face the Hokies Friday at 7:00 p.m. before squaring off against the Cavaliers at 8:00 p.m. the following evening.
The Hurricanes (12-11) are tied for sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 7-8 record in league play. Last weekend, Miami avenged a five-game home loss to Georgia Tech earlier in the season with a three-game sweep at the Yellow Jackets’ O’Keefe Gymnasium. The following evening, Miami dropped a five-game thriller to Clemson.
Miami is led by senior outside hitter Karla Johnson who is ranked first in the ACC and 11th in the nation with 5.19 kills per game. Johnson is also ranked seventh in the league with 37 service aces.
Redshirt junior middle blocker Francheska Savage and junior setter Jill Robinson are also contributing greatly to the Hurricanes’ offensive production. Savage ranks sixth in the ACC with 3.84 kills per game and 10th with a .291 hitting percentage. Robinson, who dished out a career-high 69 assists against Clemson, is second in the ACC with 12.66 assists per game.
Defensively, Miami has relied on the steady play of junior libero Ann Gallo and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Ciara Michel. Gallo leads the team with 3.67 digs per game and is second behind Johnson with 23 service aces. Michel is ranked sixth in the ACC with 1.20 blocks per game. She has posted 87 block assists and 21 solo blocks to lead the Hurricanes.
As a team, Miami is ranked second in the ACC with 14.61 assists per game and third with 15.92 kills per game. The Hurricanes are also ranked fourth in hitting percentage (.217), sixth in blocks per game (2.70), and seventh in both service aces (1.41pg) and digs (15.47pg).
The Hurricanes head into Blacksburg to face a Virginia Tech squad that is 11-14 overall and ninth in the ACC with a 6-10 mark. The Hokies have lost four straight matches and suffered sweeps in matches against Boston College and Maryland last weekend.
Miami leads the all-time series against Virginia Tech, 4-2. The Hurricanes have won the last two matches of the series, including a 3-1 victory in Coral Gables in their first meeting this season.
As a team, the Hokies are hitting 14.0 kills per game. They are hitting .186 while allowing opponents to hit .222 and 16.2 digs per game.
Sarah Munoz and Katie Esbrook lead the Hokies offensively. Munoz is ranked 10th in the ACC with 3.39 kills per game while Esbrook’s .313 hitting percentage ranks her sixth.
Melissa Markowski, who surpassed 5,000 career assists this season, is ranked fourth in the ACC with 12.40 assists per game.
Defensively, Amanda Cloyd’s 4.77 digs per game leads the Hokies and places her fourth in the conference.
Virginia will play Florida State on Friday before welcoming Miami into Memorial Gym the following evening. The Cavaliers are ranked third in the ACC with an 11-5 record and a 16-9 overall mark. Last week, Virginia dropped a 3-1 decision to ACC leader Maryland before sweeping Boston College.
Miami leads the all-time series, 2-1, though Virginia claimed a 3-1 victory in Coral Gables earlier this season.
The Cavaliers are led offensively by Sarah Kirkwood who is second in the ACC in kills per game (4.49) and seventh in hitting percentage (.303). Emily Kirkwood is third in the league with 12.42 assists per game and is also ranked fifth with 0.42 service aces per game.
Melissa Caldwell leads Virginia defensively with 4.02 digs per game.
As a team, Virginia is ranked first in the ACC with 2.02 service aces per game. The Cavaliers are also second in hitting percentage (.241) and third in kills per game (5.92pg).
Stay tuned to hurricanesports.com for up-to-date Miami volleyball news, results and statistics.
