Miami Volleyball to Face Florida State in ACC-Opener

Sept. 16, 2010

Miami vs. FSU Match Notes (PDF)

Coral Gables, Fla. – The University of Miami volleyball team opens its Atlantic Coast Conference slate on Sat., Sept. 18, welcoming in-state foe No. 15 Florida State University to the James L. Knight Sports Complex in Coral Gables at 7 p.m.

Miami sits at 10-1 entering Saturday’s match, while riding an eight-match win streak. The `Canes collected 3-0 sweeps of three opponents last weekend en route to claiming the 10th Annual Hurricane Invitational title. UM’s lone loss of the year came in the title match of the Sooner Legends/Nike Invitational at the hands of host Oklahoma on Aug. 28.

In UM’s win over Bethune-Cookman on Sept. 11, junior outside hitter Lane Carico collected her 1,000th career kill, becoming the sixth player in school history to eclipse the 1,000-kill plateau. Currently, Carico ranks fifth all-time at UM for kills (1,014), needing just five more to move into fourth place and passing Genny Mayhew (2006-09).

Florida State enters the match with an 8-1 record, and is working on a four-match winning streak. The Seminoles’ only loss of the season came to Tennessee on Sept. 4, in Houston, Texas.

FSU has claimed the last two wins in the series against the Hurricanes – collecting both wins in 2009, and holds an 18-16-1 advantage in the series overall. Prior to last year, UM swept the 2008 season meetings.

Miami is second in the ACC in hitting percentage with a .274 clip. The Seminoles of FSU are third, hitting at a .271 percentage. UM is also second in the league in assists, using the sets of redshirt junior Katie Gallagher (392 assists) and sophomore Nrithya Sundararaman (68 assists). The `Canes rank 15th nationally in assists.

Overall, the `Canes lead the league in kills (589) behind the strength of Carico (3.39 per set) and junior Christine Williamson (2.72 per set). As a team, UM is ranked 18th nationally in kills per set (14.37). FSU is third in the ACC for kills, led by the play of junior outside hitter Visnja Djurdjevic with 111 kills (3.36 per set). The `Noles Stephanie Neville is second on the squad with 85 kills (2.50 per set).

Defensively, Miami is charged by the play of freshman libero Ryan Shaffer, who has collected 153 digs (3.73 per set). She is followed by Carico with 141 digs (3.44 per set). Jenna Romanelli leads the Seminoles defense with 127 digs (3.74 per set), followed by Djurdjevic with 103 (3.12 per set).

Both teams won tournaments in which they competed last weekend, with FSU claiming the University of Kentucky Tournament in Lexington, Ky.

The match will be streamed live via All-Access on www.hurricanesports.com, and will also have live audio through WVUM (www.wvum.org). Live stats will be provided through Game Tracker on the UM athletics website as well.

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.

You can also keep up-to-date with all UM Athletics via twitter at Twitter.com/HurricaneSports.