UM Loses Tough Battle With Hofstra, 3-2
Aug. 24, 2007
CORAL GABLES, Fla. –The University of Miami volleyball team nearly came away with a victory in its season-opener Friday night but a late Hofstra rally gave the Pride a 3-2 win after edging out the Hurricanes, 23-21, in game five at the Orange and Green Challenge at the Knight Sports Complex.
After the two teams traded points in early in the fifth game, Miami (0-1) gained control late, taking the game to match point at 14-11. Hofstra (1-0) was then able to rally for three straight points to tie the game at 14-14. Miami won the 15th point before the two teams proceeded to trade tallies until the Pride won back-to-back points to go up 19-18. The teams then fought to a 21-21 tie before a Harmonie Calinda kill and a UM attack error ended the match.
“When we find ourselves in situations that we can win, we need to be really aggressive and I thought we got a little tentative when we had some swings for the match instead of just going after it,” head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch said. “That is definitely a key to winning tight matches.”
Sophomore Genny Mayhew led the way offensively for Miami, recording a career-high 19 kills. Mayhew, who also finished the night with 12 digs, was one of four Canes with double-digit kills. Preseason All-ACC middle blocker Ciara Michel had 16 with six total blocks, Bridget Bomhack finished with 12 kills, nine digs and four total blocks while Angelica Ellis hit a team-best .375 with 11 kills on 24 attempts.
Setter Katie Gallagher, in her first game at UM, collected 53 assists, a number that was reached just four times by a Hurricane in 2006. Gallagher contributed across the board for the Canes, recording 16 digs, four kills, four aces and a block assist.
Cassie Loessberg led four UM players in double-figure digs, finishing with 22 on the night.
Hofstra’s Lauren Engle finished with a match-high 23 kills while Calinda added 17. Setter Sarah Lopez set a new career-high with 57 assists while Shellane Ogoshi’s 25 digs led five Hofstra players in double figures. The Pride also had a strong night at the net, with three different players finishing with at least four total blocks.
The Pride won the first game, 30-26, with Engle recording seven of the team’s 20 kills on just nine attack attempts. The Canes rallied after the early deficit to win the next two games, 30-24 in game two before a convincing 30-21 win in the third game. Hofstra tied it back up in the fourth game with a close 30-27 win, prevailing over the Canes despite an 8-4 Miami run late in the game to tie it up at 27 apiece.
“I thought we had tremendous effort,” Lantagne Welch said. “The team played hard and we responded well when we made some changes after a rough game one.”
Hofstra will take on Butler to open play Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Knight Sports Complex before the Hurricanes face Jacksonville at 12:30 p.m.
Butler 3, Jacksonville 1
Butler won the opening game of the Orange and Green Challenge, 3-1, over Jacksonville behind Jessica Wolfe’s match-high 18 kills.
In addition to Wolfe, Katie Daprile and Michelle DeGeeter each finished with 13 kills for the Bulldogs while Brittany Awai and Dana Daprile shared the setting duties with 23 and 22 assists respectively. Nina Inac led the defense with 30 digs and DeGeeter collected five block assists.
Hannah Munneke collected 44 assists on the afternoon for Jacksonville (0-1) while three hitters finished with double-digit kills. Aidan Yeager and Sara Bendorf each collected 12 while Brittany Lehman recorded 10. Defensively, Michelle Walroth recorded 32 digs while Munneke and Bendorf finished with 18 and 17 respectively. Melissa Merchant tallied seven total blocks in a losing effort.
The Bulldogs took an early lead in the first match on Friday, beating Jacksonville, 30-23, in the opening game behind a .317 hitting percentage. Katie Daprile led the way early on with seven of her 13 kills in game one. Butler (1-0) went up 2-0 after a 30-24 win in game two as Inac turned in a big game defensively with 11 digs. Lehman’s five-kill game three helped the Dolphins cut the score to 2-1 as Jacksonville edged Butler, 31-29. Butler then closed out the match with a 30-21 score in game four.
Butler returns to the court for the first match on Saturday, facing Hofstra at 10 a.m. Jacksonville’s next match will be against UM in Saturday’s second match set for 12:30 p.m.
