Canes Knock Off No. 6 Florida State
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miamivolleyball team knocked off No. 6 Florida State, 3-1, in front of a national televisionaudience and a record crowd at the Knight Sports Complex on Friday. It was thefirst-ever win over a top-10 team for the program.
Afterdropping the first set 25-18, the Canes won the next three sets by the scoresof 25-17, 25-22 and 25-18.
“Weplayed at a very high level and served and passed very well tonight,” 12th-yearhead coach Nicole Lantagne Welch said. “Our offense was in great rhythm. Weused a lot of our quickness and speed to beat them.”
JuniorAlex Johnson, a Tallahassee native, recorded a match-high 16 kills for Miami(7-1, 1-0 ACC) along with 16 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. SophomoreAlexis Mourning contributed 14 kills, as UM put together a hitting percentageof .228 compared to FSU’s .155.
Defensively,junior libero Ryan Shaffer had a team-high 18 digs, while sophomore middleblocker Emani Sims collected six total blocks.
Seniorsetter Nryitha Sundararaman put up 50 assists to pace the offense, reachingthat total for the second time this season.
Thesixth-ranked Seminoles (6-1, 0-1 ACC) came out of the gates strong to take theopening set, 25-18, with a .306 hitting percentage. There were five ties andtwo lead changes in the set.
In thesecond, the teams split the first 12 points before UM won the next three togain momentum. FSU brought the score to 11-10, but the Canes went on an 8-1 runto seize control. The lead grew to as much as 10, with Mourning spiking a killto clinch the set.
Miami brokean 8-8 tie in the third and never lost the lead again to go up 2-1 in thematch. Johnson registered five kills in the set.
Withvictory in sight, the Hurricanes once again broke through early and went up byas many as 21-13. Florida State called timeout, but UM closed it out on a killfrom Mourning that sent the Knight Sports Complex into a frenzy. Members of therecord crowd of 1,129 stormed the court to congratulate the Hurricanes on thehistoric win over a top-10 opponent.
Theprevious-best win over a ranked opponent came in the second round of the NCAA Tournamentagainst No. 15 Wisconsin in 2002.
“Ourprogram has been growing and is now known across the nation,” Lantagne Welchcontinued. “A win like this is going to get everyone’s attention that we aredoing great things down here in Coral Gables.”
TheCanes will next step out of the ACC to compete at the two-day LouisvilleTournament at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., starting on Friday, Sept.14. The event will include matches against UNLV, Middle Tennessee State andLouisville.
NOTES
It wasthe first time the ESPN family of networks has ever broadcasted a UM volleyballmatch in Coral Gables … Kelsie Groot made her first career start … TaylorHollins (10 kills, 10 digs) recorded a double-double for the seventh time ineight matches … Miami had 59 kills compared to 49 by FSU … the Canes won athome for the 10th time in a row and have taken 21 of the last 22 atthe Knight Complex … UM has won three of its last four versus FSU.
Theticket office is pleased to offer season tickets for both volleyball and soccerfor just $50. Season tickets to the home volleyball schedule at the KnightComplex can be purchased for $35, with single match tickets available for aslow as $3. Call 1-800-GO-CANES to order your tickets today.
For all the latest information onthe Miami Hurricanes, follow the official Twitter feed, @HurricaneSports, or”Like Us” on Facebook at facebook.com/MiamiHurricanes. Follow @CanesVB onTwitter for specific news on UM volleyball.
