Volleyball Set to Finish Season against Wake Forest and Duke
Nov. 21, 2006
Coral Gables, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s volleyball team are preparing to take their final road-trip for the season as they take on the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest and the Blue Devils of Duke. The Hurricanes will face Wake Forest tomorrow evening at 7:00 p.m., and Duke Friday afternoon at 12:00 p.m.
Miami finished 1-1 over the weekend as they fell to UNC 1-3 before sweeping N.C. State 3-0. The Hurricanes finished the weekend 11-18 overall and 8-12 in the conference.
Friday’s match against Duke will be the finale for seniors Frannie Savage, Jill Robinson, Ann Gallo, and Sara Duncan.
Savage, who is ranked tenth in the ACC in both kills (409 / 3.65 pg) and points (476.5 / 4.25 pg), registered two back-to-back doubles over the weekend for a total of four on the season. In the North Carolina match, the outside hitter posted 10 kills and a season-high 16 digs, followed by a 10 kill, 14 dig performance against N.C. State.
Robinson totals 1,151 assists on the season, placing her ninth in league with an average of 10.46 assists per game. As Miami’s all-time leader with 4,866 total career assists, the senior setter is the only player in UM history to have over 4,000 career assists. Last weekend, Robinson dropped in her thirteenth double-double on the season with 33 assists and 11 digs over the Tar Heels and contributed 34 assists versus the Wolfpack.
Senior Ann Gallo leads the Hurricanes with 309 total kills and 2.76 per game. She led the Hurricanes in defensive digs in both matches with 21 against North Carolina and 17 against N.C. State. Junior Ciara Michel registered a total of 16 blocks over the weekend with nine and seven over UNC and N.C. State respectively. Michel currently ranks fourth in the ACC with 154 total blocks and a 1.38 block per game average.
As Miami sits tenth in the conference, they rank amongst the top-ten in each statistic category. In blocks, Miami sits in fourth place with 307 total and 2.74 per game. The Hurricanes sit sixth in both hitting percentage with a .203 percentage (4,193 total points), and assists (1,438 / 12.84 pg). The Hurricanes rank seventh, eighth, and ninth respectively in kills (1,577 / 14.08 pg), service aces (162 / 1.45 pg), and digs (1651 / 14.74 pg).
Scouting the Opponents:
Wake Forest currently sits seventh in the league with a 14-15 overall record and 10-10 in the conference. The Demon Deacons are led by Jessica Furlong with 404 kills (3.67 pg) and second on the squad with 318 total digs on the season.
Natalie Mullikin ranks fifth in the ACC with 145 total blocks (1.29 pg), while Natasha Schaefer leads with 350 defensive digs (3.72 pg). Jenna Doane leads the team with 35 service aces.
Duke captured their first ever ACC title after defeating Virginia Tech, 3-0 last weekend. With their 19-1 conference record, the Blue Devils have set a new record in the ACC as the most wins in the league’s history. They currently hold a 26-3 overall record that ties them fifth in school history with the best overall record.
The Blue Devils have five players with over 200 total kills, four players with 30 or more service aces, four players with 200+ digs, and two players with over 100 total blocks on the season.
In the American Volleyball Coaches Association, Duke is ranked 25 in the Division 1 Top 25 Coaches Poll.
Both matches are available exclusively on ACC Select at www.accselect.com. Hurricanes fans can purchase a Single Event Pass ($3.99 per event) or an All Event Pass ($5.99 per month) which allows unlimited access to games.
