Hurricanes Volleyball Stumbles at FIU, 3-0

Sept. 10, 2009

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Miami, Fla. – A raucous crowd of 857 saw three FIU players register double-digit kills to lead the homestanding FIU Golden Panthers past the University of Miami Hurricanes in volleyball action, 3-0 (26-24, 26-24, 25-17), on Thursday evening at U.S. Century Bank Arena in Miami, Fla. The match was the opening of the inaugural Miami/FIU Invitational hosted by UM and FIU.

Miami (5-2) was held to a season-low 43 points and the second-lowest production of kills (34) on Thursday evening. In the process, the Hurricanes were unable to place a player in double-figures in the kills category for just the second time all season.

UM started the first set hot, racing to a 9-3 lead behind an early strong performance from Ali Becker and Genny Mayhew. In the early run, FIU (6-1) committed four errors to help the Hurricanes cause. The Golden Panthers kicked off a 10-4 run with a kill from Andrea Lakovic to eventually knot the score, 13-13.

The tie was the first of 20 ties and six lead changes in the match.

FIU committed five service errors in the first set–four of which came with the score tied serving for the lead. UM took advantage of the fourth error to then post kills from Lici McGee and Lane Carico to step out to a 20-17 advantage. McGee would finish with seven kills in the match for Miami–five coming in the first set.

FIU’s star player Yarimar Rosa abruptly ended the Hurricanes run with a kill, and teammate Olga Vergun posted one of her 13 kills in the match to knot the score again, this time at 20-20.

With the set tied 23-23, the Golden Panthers took their first lead of the match on a kill from Vergun off a Natalia Valentin assist. Valentin ended the night with a match-high 49 assists for FIU.

Another kill from Vergun and an attack error charged to the `Canes allowed FIU to slip away with the lead in the match and the first set, 26-24.

The second set was much of the same as far as intensity and excitement as neither team was able to hold a firm lead until late in the set.

FIU dropped in 22 kills as a team hitting a solid .306 clip (22-7-49) in the second set, while Miami countered with a .237 percentage (13-4-38).

With FIU already holding a slim 19-18 advantage, the Golden Panthers got a kill from Rosa and another from Vergun to widen its lead to 21-18. After a Christine Williamson kill from UM, the lead stood at 21-19 before back-to-back FIU kills put them serving for set-point, 24-20.

The `Canes took advantage of a timely kill from Ariell Cooke to take serve at 24-21, while libero Cassie Loessberg served for UM. She would serve three straight points while getting production from outside hitter Mayhew who punched in consecutive kills to bring UM to within, 24-23.

The set became tied at 24-24 following an FIU timeout as freshman Nrithya Sundararaman and McGee combined for a block at the net. Rosa responded for the Golden Panthers with two of her eight kills in the set to give FIU the 2-0 lead in the match, taking the second set, 26-24.

Mayhew led all Hurricanes in the set with five kills.

In the third set, Miami was unable to find the shots as the `Canes were limited to just a .111 hitting mark (8-5-27). FIU eclipsed the .300-plateau hitting for the second straight set, totaling .333 (18-7-33).

Carico and Becker each added two kills and a block, respectively, for UM. And Williamson supplied two kills, but it was not enough as FIU collected the match victory on the strength of a 25-17 edge in the final set.

FIU was led by Rosa’s 17 kills and 11 digs, while teammates Vergun (13) and Sabrina Gonzalez (10) both added double figures for kills. Libero Chanel Araujo collected a match-high 18 digs.

As for Miami, the `Canes were paced by Mayhew’s eight kills and six digs. Behind her were Carico and McGee, each collecting seven kills. McGee added a team-best four blocks, while setter Katie Gallagher put up 27 assists, seven digs and three blocks (assisted).

Miami will get back to action Friday, Sept. 11 on the second day of the Miami/FIU Invitational, hosting Middle Tennessee State at 6 p.m. to the James L. Knight Sports Complex on the campus of UM in Coral Gables.

For more information on the University of Miami Volleyball team, please log on to www.hurricanesports.com. Once there, you will find up-to-date news, stats and information regarding the Hurricanes Volleyball program.