Hurricanes Volleyball Rolls to 3-0 Win Over South Dakota State
Sept. 4, 2008
Coral Gables, Fla. – Genny Mayhew collected her third double-double (13 kills, 12 digs) of the year on Thursday night as the University of Miami volleyball squad opened the 2008 Hurricane Invitational with a 3-0 win (25-17, 25-12, 25-21) over South Dakota State at the James L. Knight Sports Complex.
The Hurricanes (5-0) trailed 14-11 in the first set following a kill by SDSU’s Ellyce Youngren. That’s when Miami went on a 7-1 run led by the service of setter Katie Gallagher who helped to establish five consecutive points off serve. Leading the charge during the run was freshman Ali Becker with two kills, while Gallagher ended the run with a service ace.
South Dakota State committed two attack errors and a service error down the stretch to aid a UM run (7-1) that led to the 25-17 Hurricanes victory.
In the second set, the `Canes wasted little time jumping out to a 12-5 advantage midway through. Three consecutive kills from freshman Becker–adding a fourth for the `Canes after a service error by the Jackrabbits (1-3), helped establish the early lead as Miami hit 44 percent (.441) on attacks in the second set as they collected 17 kills to just two (2) errors en route to the 25-12 win. SDSU was held to .000 hitting as they had seven kills with seven errors.
The third set provided excitement as the Jacks jumped out to a 6-3 lead behind the service of Justine Olsen, as well as three attack errors to start by the `Canes.
In a set that saw three leads changes and nine ties, the Hurricanes didn’t establish their first lead until outside hitter Lane Carico registered her third kill of the set to the back corner to allow the Orange and Green to push out in front, 17-16. The score would tie again at 17, 19 and 20, respectively, before the `Canes went out in front for good at 21-20.
Preseason All-ACC selection Mayhew registered the last four points of the match for the Hurricanes to help them to a hard-fought 25-21 advantage in the third set.
“Genny is a great go-to player, and when the match is on the line she is the type of player that wants the ball to try and get her team the win,” stated UM head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch. “She made sure down the stretch that we were able to win against a team that just wasn’t going away.”
For the fifth straight match this year, the `Canes held their opponent to less than .200 hitting in the contest as they limited the Jacks to just .106 for the match. In fact, the highest percentage against Miami has been by Texas State (.196) in the second match of the year. Meanwhile, Miami posted a hitting percentage of .353 to mark the third consecutive time they’ve topped .345 or higher for that category.
The Jacks were led by Mackenzie Angner with nine kills and six digs on the night, followed by Youngren with seven kills and three blocks.
Mayhew had 13 kills and 12 digs to lead the Orange and Green, while teammate Carico added nine kills and a season-high 15 digs. Gallagher set the offense with 36 assists (season-high) and Cassie Loessberg helped the defense with nine digs and five assists from the back row.
Action in the Hurricane Invitational continues tomorrow with a full slate of games beginning with South Dakota State versus Alabama at 10 a.m. It will continue with VCU versus South Dakota State (2 p.m.) and followed by Alabama versus VCU (7 p.m.).
The `Canes won’t return to action again until Saturday, Sept. 6 when they take on Alabama at 11 a.m.
Tickets for this weekend’s event are still on sale at the UM ticket office located inside the Hecht Athletic Center.
