Canes Fall to Iowa State in NCAA Tournament

AMES, Iowa – Three Iowa State players registered double-digit kills as the homestanding No. 4 seed Cyclones held off 25th-ranked University of Miami, 3-0, in second round action of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament Saturday evening inside Hilton Coliseum.

Miami fell in straight sets to the Cyclones on scores of 25-21, 25-10 and 25-14.

The Hurricanes (26-5) were unable to slow down a strong Iowa State attack against a taller team Saturday night. The Canes hit a season-low .087 while allowing Iowa State (24-5) hit at a .328 clip.

Miami started off the match strong leading 14th-ranked Iowa State for most of the set. Sophomore right side Alex Johnson registered four kills and hit .500, added three kills from senior All-America outside hitter Lane Carico and three more from redshirt freshman middle blocker Emani Sims.

The Canes controlled the set until ISU used a kill from Victoria Hurtt to take a 19-18 edge late in the frame. They would get kills from Jamie Straube and Carly Jensen down the stretch to take the opener.

In the second set, Miami fell behind 12-0 as the Cyclones hit .380 in the frame to run away with a 25-10 win heading into the intermission. The hot-hitting continued for the Cyclones in the third, while errors continued to loom against the Hurricanes to hand the Canes their second loss against a Big 12 team overall in the NCAA Tournament.

Miami finishes the season with its highest ever finish in Atlantic Coast Conference play in second place while bringing home the first NCAA Tournament win since 2002. Carico was named ACC Player of the Year, joined by redshirt senior setter Katie Gallagher and senior middle blocker Ali Becker on the All-ACC Team.

Iowa State was led in the match by Straube with a match-high 12 kills, joined by teammates Jenson (11) and Hurtt (10) in double figures for kills.

Miami was aided by Johnson’s team-high nine kills, eight digs and three blocks. Carico finished with seven kills and eight digs, while Sims added four kills and a match-high four blocks.

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University of Miami Postgame Notes:

With the loss, the Hurricanes are now…

• 26-5 overall
• 10-1 against non-conference opponents
• 0-1 all-time against Iowa State
• 10-4 in road matches
• 1-1 in the month of December
• 15-2 in three-set matches
• 15-3 in night matches

Low Point
The 10 points scored in the second set was the lowest scored in a single 25-point set this season. The previous low was 16 at Boston College (Oct. 21). The 10 points was the lowest scored in school history in 25- or 30-point sets beginning in 2001 with the resurrection of the program. The previous-low was 11 scored against San Francisco (Sept. 13, 2008) in the opening set of an eventual 3-2 Canes win.

Miami in the NCAA Tournament
The Hurricanes fell to 3-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament play.

Miami against the Big 12
With the loss, Miami fell to 0-2 all-time against Big 12 competition in the NCAA Tournament, also falling to Nebraska in the Sweet 16 of the 2002 tournament.

Hitting Tough
The Canes were held to a season-low .087 percentage in the match against the Cyclones.

Canes Conclude Great Season

The Hurricanes finished the season at 26-5, earning the program at least 25 wins in three season (2002, 2008, 2011).