Hurricanes Volleyball Enjoys Senior Day Sweep

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami volleyball team enjoyed a “Senior Day” victory Sunday afternoon as the Hurricanes defeated NC State, 3-0, in Atlantic Coast Conference action at the James L. Knight Sports Complex. Miami took the match on scores of 27-25, 25-19 and 25-20.

With Sunday’s win, the Hurricanes not only earned their sixth consecutive victory, but improved to 21-3 overall and 12-3 in ACC play – now owning sole possession of second place in the ACC standings. NC State dropped to 17-11 overall and fell to 5-10 against league competition.

The Hurricanes celebrated “Senior Day” for four young ladies prior to the match as Ali Becker, Lane Carico, Katie Gallagher and Christine Williamson were honored by UMiami head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch, her staff, family and fans for their hard work throughout the years in the Orange and Green.

After a tough five-set thrilling victory for UM in Raleigh a month ago, NC State proved resilient once again for much of the afternoon on Sunday.

UM led 14-11 in the opening set following a service ace from Gallagher. However, the Wolfpack would later tie things up at 17-all when Rachel Buckley and Brie Merriwether combined for a block at the net. The Pack would take its first lead of the set, 22-21, following a block by Margaret Salata. After a UMiami timeout, the Hurricanes reclaimed the lead at 24-23 with the help of a service error charged to NC State and a kill from sophomore right side Alex Johnson off the feed of Gallagher.

The Hurricanes served for set point three times before outside hitter Williamson placed a kill followed by a block from Becker to give the Canes a 27-25 victory in the opener. Williamson laid down three of her five kills on the match in the opening set, and it was Becker picking up two of her three blocks in the frame.

There would be just a single lead change in the following two frames as the Hurricanes held the Wolfpack at bay, despite the efforts of NC State’s outside hitter Salata who finished with a match-high 19 kills and hitting at a .467 clip.

At least three Canes reach double digits in kills in consecutive matches as Johnson led all performers with 12 for the Orange and Green. All-America outside hitter Carico staked 11 kills as well as redshirt freshman middle blocker Emani Sims with 11 kills and two blocks while posting a .368 hitting percentage. Becker chipped in with 10 kills on 21 swings for a team-high .429 hitting percentage while adding three blocks (two solo).

Carico registered the double-double for the Canes with 14 digs and teammate Gallagher setup the offense with a match-high 43 assists and bringing in eight digs and contributing on a block. Sophomore libero Ryan Shaffer laid out for 11 digs.

Miami will look to continue its hot streak when the Hurricanes head out on the road Thursday, Nov. 10 for a match with Duke in Durham, N.C. The Canes will travel up I-40 just over an hour two days later for a Saturday evening affair with Wake Forest in Winston-Salem.

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.