Hurricanes Look Strong in Annual Alumni Volleyball Match
Aug. 23, 2008
Coral Gables, Fla. – Three Hurricane players collected double-digit kills to push the 2008 University of Miami volleyball team past the Alumni team in a five-set sweep on Saturday at the James Knight Sports Complex. UM won the match on scores of 25-11, 25-14, 25-12, 25-15 and 15-8.
Eighth-year head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch elected to play five sets on Saturday in order to get her team the most effective alumni match and competition going into next weekend’s season-opener.
Preseason All-ACC selection Genny Mayhew registered a double-double on the day with a match-high 13 kills and 11 digs. The junior outside hitter collected a hitting percentage of .480 in the match while also setting two assists, serving out two aces and recording one solo block at the net.
Equally impressive was sophomore outside hitter Maria Andersson with a double-double performance of her own as she collected 10 kills and 10 digs. She added two assists and a block assist.
Angelica Ellis pitched in with 12 kills and three blocks, while setter Katie Gallagher set-up 44 assists with 11 digs and two blocks.
The Alumni team was paced by the play of outside hitter Valeria Tipiana with a team-high tying 11 kills and 12 digs. Tipiana, a member of the Hurricanes from 2001-04, still sits at second place all-time in UM history for kills in a career with 1,411, as well as first in service aces (131), third in digs (968) and fourth in total blocks (276).
Beside Tipiana for the Alumni was Marcela Gamarra with eight kills and 11 digs. Gamarra, a member of the Hurricanes for two seasons in 2001 and 2002, stands at fourth place all-time at UM for kills (845), second in attack percentage (.306) and fifth in points (965.5).
Alumni setter Jill Robinson added 25 assists and 11 digs. Robinson is still credited as the best setter in Hurricanes history as she sits well-ahead of the field in the record books at first place in assists with 4,937. In her career, Robinson averaged 11.54 assists per game from 2003-06.
Miami officially begins the 2008 campaign Aug. 29-30 in San Marcos, Texas as part of the Century Tel Premier Tournament. Other participating schools include Sacramento State, Texas Pan-American, Louisiana-Monroe and host Texas State. UM takes on Sacramento State as their first opponent on Friday, Aug. 29 at 3:30 pm.
