Miami Heads to Louisville Tournament

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Coming off one of the biggestwins in program history, the University of Miami volleyball team returns toaction this weekend at the Louisville Tournament on the campus of theUniversity of Louisville. The Hurricanes will take on UNLV on Friday at 5 p.m. beforefacing Middle Tennessee (1 p.m.) and No. 12 Louisville (7 p.m.) on Saturday atthe KFC Yum! Center.

“Everyweek we want to get better and learn more about ourselves,” head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch said. “We have three tough opponents ahead of us and thistournament is going to be a good challenge.”

UM (7-1,0-0) took down No. 6 Florida State, 3-1, in its Atlantic Coast Conferenceopener last weekend in front of a record crowd and national television audience(ESPNU) at the Knight Sports Complex. It was the highest ranked team theprogram had ever defeated. Junior right side Alex Johnson totaled 16 kills and16 digs in the match to earn ACC Player of the Week. She was also honored nationallyas a Top Performer by the Collegiate Volleyball Update.

JuniorTaylor Hollins is currently second in the ACC with 3.80 kills/set this seasonand has totaled seven double-doubles in eight matches. Classmate Ryan Shafferleads the Canes with 146 digs, while senior Nrithya Sundararaman is second inthe league with 11.00 assists/set.

“It’simportant that we stay focused on staying hungry to get better and not live onthe last win,” Lantagne Welch said. “We want to continue to get better movingforward.”

A linkto live stats of all three matches will be available at HurricaneSports.com,with a premium stream being provided for the match against UofL.

SCOUTING THE LOUISVILLETOURNAMENT

UNLV
Record: 6-3, 0-0
Conference: Mountain West
Head Coach: Cindy Fredrick (Second season)
Series vs. UM: 0-0
Last Time vs. UM: N/A
First Time vs. UM: N/A

• UM and UNLV have never met on the volleyball court and UM has never faceda team from Nevada
• Madeline Westman leads the Rebels with 84 kills
• Most recently, the team won all three matches to win the UNLV Classic
• Since 2001, Miami has only played two current members of the MountainWest (New Mexico, 2002; San Diego State, 2003)
• Team is comprised of eight returners and six newcomers

Middle Tennessee
Record: 3-9, 0-0
Conference: Sun Belt
Head Coach: Matt Peck (Ninth season)
Series vs. UM: Miami leads, 3-0
Last Time vs. UM: Miami won, 3-1 (Sept. 5, 2010 atMurfreesboro, Tenn.)
First Time vs. UM: Miami won, 3-0 (Sept. 21, 2001at Coral Gables, Fla.)

• Chelsea Ross leads the Blue Raiders with 177 kills and 103 digs thisseason
• The Blue Raiders have dropped their last six
• The team has victories over UAB, Harvard and Towson
• The Canes traveled to MT in 2010 and won the Blue Raider Bash
• The team is comprised of nine freshmen and six upperclassmen
• MT played in the NCAA Tournament last season

Louisville
Record:8-1, 0-0
Conference:BIG EAST
Head Coach: Anne Kordes (Second season)
Series vs. UM: Louisville leads, 1-0
Last Time vs. UM:Louisville won, 3-1 (Sept. 17,2005 at Coral Gables, Fla.)
First Time vs. UM: Same

• This will be the third non-conference tournament UofL has hosted thisseason
• The Cardinals have played seven of nine matches at home so far (6-1)
• The reigning BIG EAST Player of the Year, Lola Arslanbekova, is seventhin the nation with 4.79 kills/set (158 overall)
• UofL most recently defeated Purdue and Illinois at the BIG EAST/Big TenChallenge
• Louisville advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament lastseason

The UMTicket 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.

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