Hurricanes Go Down to Virginia Tech in Four Games
Oct. 15, 2006
BLACKSBURG,Va. – The University of Miami volleyball team went down to Virginia Tech tonight 3-1 (23-30, 30-28, 19-30, 28-30) in Blacksburg. The Hurricanes fall 6-12 overall and 3-6 in the ACC.
Jill Robinson led the Hurricanes with 43 assists. She is the all-time leader in assists with a total of 4,430. Robinson is the only player in the history of Miami volleyball to have more than 3,000 or 4,000 career assists.
Senior Frannie Savage led the team with 13 kills and posted five digs and four blocks, while Ashley Woods registered 12 kills and a .250 hitting percentage. Ciara Michel posted 10 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Angelica Ellis contributed seven kills of her own.
“Frannie was great at putting up some blocks on their key player”, commented head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch.
“Angelica came in off the bench and provided a nice front for us.”
Defensively, Ann Gallo led the team with 16 digs, as Lauren Rinderknecht registered 14 digs.
“I felt Ann Gallo was very good defensively and came up with some incredible saves”, Lantagne Welch said.
As a team, Miami posted 58 kills and a .167 hitting percentage to Virginia Tech’s .295. However, the Hurricanes out-blocked the Hokies by posting 10 total team blocks, to their eight total.
The Hokies came out with the lead early in game one with the score 10-2. Miami rallied back to bring the game within three at 13-16 from a kill by Lauren Rinderknecht, forcing Virginia Tech to take a timeout. The Hokies got back into the game taking advantage of the lead and stretching it by as much as six with the score 28-22 off of a kill by the Hokies’ Sarah Munoz. By the end, Virginia Tech was up 29-22 off an attack error by Lauren Rinderknecht, but a kill by Ashley Woods kept the Hurricanes in the game. However, The Hokies responded with their last kill taking the win, and a 1-0 lead.
Game two saw an early 16-11 lead by the Hurricanes with total 17 kills before they took the win 30-28 and tied the match 1-1. Ashley Woods posted seven kills, while Robinson contributed 13 assists. Miami ran with the lead throughout the game as Virginia Tech trailed to bring the score within two at 27-25, as Miami was forced to take a timeout. The Hurricanes returned back into the game, registering a kill by Ciara Michel. But three back-to-back attack errors kept the Hokies in the game to put Miami up by one at 29-28. Miami quickly responded with a service ace, to take the win.
Virginia Tech came out in game three by taking an early 18-8 lead, and never looked back. The Hokies ran away with a 30-19 game win and a 2-0 match lead.
Game four saw both teams battling for the lead, and 13 tied scores before Virginia Tech took the win 30-28. The Hurricanes led by as much as three points at 25-22, however the Hokies continued to respond by rallying back to put the game up at 26 all off of an attack error by Frannie Savage. The Hokies’ Taylor Parrish along with Savage battled with back-to-back kills with Frannie posting one as Parrish registered two, Virginia Tech was up 29-27. An attack error bt the Hokies kept the Hurricanes in game only trailing by one, right before ending with a final kill by Jen Albrecht to take the win and the match.
“Bottom line, we are still struggling with some inconsistencies. Until we can steady out, that is definitely going to be key for us to get over our struggles.”
The Hurricanes are back in action as they travel to Tallahassee Tuesday, October 17 to take on in-state rival Florida State. The match, set to begin at 7:00 p.m., will be broadcasted live on Sun Sports.
