Miami Downs Jacksonville For First Win
Aug. 25, 2007
CORAL GABLES, Fla. –Miami volleyball picked up its first win of the season Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over Jacksonville on the second day of play at the Orange and Green Challenge at the Knight Sports Complex.
Freshman setter Katie Gallagher recorded a triple-double in just her second collegiate game, collecting 40 assists, 19 digs and a match-high 11 service aces, shattering Kristi Sprinkel’s UM record of six aces against Nova Southeastern on Oct. 24, 2001.
Maria Andersson also had a big day for UM, tying with Genny Mayhew for a team-best 13 kills while also adding three service aces and four digs.
“I’m proud of the team for notching their first win,” head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch said. “I think we had some really bright spots and some ugly moments as early season volleyball tends to have.”
Bridget Bomhack led the squad with 21 digs while adding eight kills and Ciara Michel finished with 12 kills and four total blocks.
Miami (1-1) started off its first match Saturday with a strong performance, cruising to a 30-14 win to go up 1-0. Game two also went the Hurricanes way as UM went up 2-0 with a 30-24 victory as Michel and Andersson recording five kills apiece.
After UM went up 6-3 in the third, Jacksonville (0-2) rattled off 10 straight points to go up 13-6 before eventually taking the game, 30-24, cutting the Hurricane lead to 2-1. The Canes were then able to regain control in the fourth game before eventually winning, 30-23.
“I was pleased with the way the team responded to our blocking challenge in game four,” Lantagne Welch said. “We picked it up there and that helped us out defensively. We also served extremely well during that match and that was really nice to see.”
UM will face Butler in the finale of the Orange and Green Challenge Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. while Jacksonville will take on Hofstra in the 5 p.m. match.
Hofstra 3, Bulter 2
Despite falling behind 2-1 in Saturday’s opening match, Hofstra was able to rally to claim their second victory of the Orange and Green Challenge with a 3-2 win over Butler.
Amanda Beyersdorff and Lauren Engle each finished with 19 kills for Hofstra (2-0), with Beyersdorff hitting a team-best .444. Sarah Lopez tallied 54 assists, five digs, three kills and two block assists while Shellane Ogoshi and Monica Knight defensively combined on 50 digs. Also, the duo of Stephanie Killins and Engle recorded a combined 10 block assists on the match.
For Butler (1-1), Porshia Allen was a force offensively, tallying a match-high 26 kills on 54 attempts for a .444 hitting percentage. Jessica Wolfe (18) and Michelle DeGeeter (11) also finished with double-digit kills while Dana Daprile and Brittany Awai split the setting duties with 23 and 30 assists respectively.
Behind a .417 hitting percentage, Hofstra won the first game, 30-24, over the Bulldogs before Butler rebounded in game two, prevailing in a close battle to tie match at 1-1 with a 30-28 win. Butler kept momentum in the third game, winning 30-21 before Hofstra tied it back up at 2-2 after taking game four, 30-22. A hard fought game five resulted in Hofstra’s second win on weekend, clinching the match with a 15-12 win.
Hofstra will play its final game of the Orange and Green Challenge at 5 p.m. against Jacksonville while Butler plays in the night cap against UM at 7:30 p.m. in the tournament finale.
