Tigers Defeat Hurricanes In Three Games
Oct. 5, 2007
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Miami volleyball fell to 8-7 overall and 2-4 in Atlantic Coast Conference play Friday night with a 3-0 loss to Clemson at the Knight Sports Complex. Despite a match-high 15 kills from Genny Mayhew, UM could not overcome 25 attack errors and 11 service errors as Clemson kept its perfect league record in tact.
After the Tigers (12-2, 5-0) won the first game convincingly, 30-13, Miami was able to gain its composure in the second game but fell in a close battle, 30-28. The `Canes gave the Tigers another challenge in the third game but in the end Clemson took home a 30-27 match-clinching win.
“We made a nice switch between games one and two and we played so much more in sync,” head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch said. “We really had a good offensive game in game two and it came down to the little things with errors here and there that cost us that game and ultimately changed the momentum in the match.”
Mayhew, who has either led or tied for the team-lead in kills the last five matches, continues to play well against ACC opposition, recording at least 15 kills in four of the last five league contests.
“Genny Mayhew came on fire and made a mid-match turnaround tonight,” Lantagne Welch said. “The energy and fire she brought was great to see and I expect that will lead us to some good things in the future.”
Ashley Woods had an effective night for UM, recording eight kills on 19 attempts while committing just two errors. Cassie Loessberg recorded a match-high 17 digs and Katie Gallagher tallied 32 assists for Miami.
Jeannette Abbott led Clemson with 12 kills while Meghan Steiner and Lia Proctor each finished with 10 apiece. Kelsey Murphy led the Tiger offense, tallying 34 assists while Murphy and Danielle Hepburn had big nights at the net with seven and six solo blocks respectively.
Clemson took an early 7-2 lead in game one and was able to increase the lead to 15-7 midway through the game before pulling away for a 30-13 win. Didem Ege recorded 11 of her 16 digs in game one while Steiner and Proctor each recorded three kills.
The two teams split the first 10 points to start game two. From there, UM went on a 7-3 run to gain a 12-8 advantage before the two teams worked their way into a 25-25 tie heading into the late portion of the game. Each side traded off the next four points to knot it up at 27 before Clemson won three of the next four points to win 30-28.
Miami won four of the first five points in the third game before Clemson went on a 4-1 run of their own to tie it up at five. The Tigers then went on a 12-7 run to go up 17-12. The Clemson lead remained five at 23-18 before the Tigers eventually finished the match with a 30-27 game three win.
The Hurricanes will return to the court Sunday when Georgia Tech visits the Knight Sports Complex for a 12 p.m. contest.The match has been tabbed a “Dig for the Cure” match in which fans can pledge money to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation for every dig recorded by the `Canes against the Yellow Jackets.
The match will be broadcast live via ACC Select at www.ACCSelect.com. Fans can also follow the match via GameTracker at www.hurricanesports.com. To access GameTracker, visit the team’s schedule on the Miami volleyball page. For tickets, contact the Hurricane ticket office at 1-800-GO-CANES.
