Miami Volleyball Wins Season Opening Match
Aug. 26, 2011
Baton Rouge, La. – Christine Williamson and Alex Johnson each accounted for a match-high tying eight kills to help lead the University of Miami to a 3-0 season-opening win over Jacksonville State Friday evening at the Tiger Classic. The event is being host by LSU inside the Maravich Center.
Miami (1-0) hit .385 in the match and held JSU (0-2) to just a .123 hitting percentage in the win. The Canes collected the win with scores of 25-19, 25-18, 25-14.
Johnson, a sophomore right side from Tallahassee, Fla., hit at a .500 clip with her eight kills against just one error. Redshirt senior Williamson needed just 16 swings to collect her eight kills, as the Tampa native hit .438 in the match.
“I thought we started out a bit anxious, but we were able to find our groove going into the third set,” said UM head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch. “Once we settled down, we were able to get our offense stronger with more rhythm. After that happened, we played Miami volleyball which led to the win.”
Redshirt freshman Emani Sims claimed seven kills on 11 attempts with just a single attack error to register a .545 hitting percentage in her collegiate debut. Joining Sims with seven kills was senior All-America performer Lane Carico.
Carico would also claim nine digs and three assisted blocks, in addition to serving up a match-high four aces.
As a unit, the Hurricanes staked a match-high .467 attack percentage in the opening frame against the Gamecocks, amassing 14 kills on 30 swings with no errors. Miami was almost equally effecting in the third frame, collecting 14 kills and committing just one error on 33 swings.
In the match, UM senior middle blocker Ali Becker added three assisted blocks and Sims another two in limiting the JSU attackers.
Lauren Harkins and Alina Agamy led the Gamecock defense with 15 and 12 digs, respectively, while Hivya Leite’s nine kills paced the way on offense.
In addition to Johnson and Williamson, Miami setter Katie Gallagher staked five kills and three digs, while also setting up a match-high 32 assists. Sophomore libero Ryan Shaffer sparked the Hurricanes defense with 14 digs while Johnson added 13.
Miami will next take on Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. (CST), later concluding its tournament run against homestanding LSU at 7 p.m. (CST).
All matches for the Tiger Classic will feature live stats, in addition to a live video stream for all matches involving LSU. The website for both stats and the video stream can be accessed by clicking here.
For more information on the University of Miami volleyball team, please log on to HurricaneSports.com. Once there, you will find up-to-date news, stats and information regarding the Hurricanes volleyball program.
Fans can keep up-to-date with all UM Athletics via twitter at Twitter.com/HurricaneSports. You can also become a fan of the Canes on Facebook at Facebook.com/MiamiHurricanes.
