Miami Falls to No. 15 Florida State in Volleyball, 3-1
Sept. 18, 2010
Coral Gables, Fla. – University of Miami senior Ariell Cooke led five Hurricanes in double-figures for kills with 14, but it wasn’t enough Saturday night, as the No. 15 Florida State Seminoles collected a 3-1 (19-25, 27-25, 27-25, 25-18) victory in ACC volleyball action at the James L. Knight Sports Complex.
Miami (10-2, 0-1 ACC) started off the match collecting a 25-19 advantage over its in-state counterparts. Junior Ali Becker and Cooke paced the `Canes with the win in the opening set, each registering four kills. Becker also added two of her four assisted blocks on the night in the opening set.
FSU (9-1, 1-0 ACC) evened the match at one set apiece in the next frame, riding the play of Lauren Young with four kills and three blocks (two assisted), collecting the 27-25 victory. UM’s Cooke placed a kill to knot the set at 25, but a kill and service ace from FSU’s Marija Milosavljevic sealed the `Noels win.
Florida State stepped out in front with a 2-1 advantage in the match following the third set, collecting a hard-fought win, 27-25. The Seminoles took the final three points of the frame behind a kill from Visnja Djurdjevic and consecutive Hurricanes attack errors. Djurdjevic was among two Seminoles leading the match with 16 kills on the night.
Miami was unable to take the match to a fifth set despite knotting the third frame at 9-9 behind back-to-back kills from Cooke. FSU used a 3-1 run with kills from Young and Stephanie Neville down the stretch to record the 25-18 win in the set, closing out the match in the process.
The Seminoles were led on the night by Neville and Djurdjevic each posting match-high 16-kill performances, while Djurdjevic tallied 12 digs for a double-double effort. Setters Patricia Figueiredo (29 assists) and Duygu Duzceler (27 assists) set the offense. The Seminoles defense used three players in double-digits for digs, led by libero Jenna Romanelli’s match-high 17.
Djurdjevic and Neville each eclipsed the .500 hitting mark, with Djurdjevic staking a .519 clip (16k-1e-27ta). Neville swung at an even .500 (16k-1e-30ta).
Miami was led by Ariell Cooke with 14 kills and two blocks, while Christine Williamson added 13 kills and three blocks. Junior outside hitter Lane Carico notched a double-double (11 kills/15 digs), with freshman Alexandria Johnson and junior Ali Becker each adding 10 kills. Becker also posted four assisted blocks, swinging at a team-high .450 clip (10k-1e-20ta).
UM setter Katie Gallagher handed out a match-high 33 assists, to go along with nine digs and a match-high tying five blocks (three solo). Freshman libero Ryan Shaffer added 14 digs on defense.
The Hurricanes get back to action in Atlantic Coast Conference play Fri., Sept. 24, playing host to Virginia Tech at the James L. Knight Sports Complex in Coral Gables. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
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