First-Place Volleyball Hits Road
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Coming off a 4-0 homestand, theUniversity of Miami volleyball team will travel north to Maryland and BostonCollege to continue its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule. The Canes are tiedfor first in the conference standings with a 6-1 record, while being 14-3overall.
Thematch against the Terrapins (10-8, 2-5) will be on Friday at 7 p.m. insideComcast Pavilion, while the contest against the Eagles (10-9, 4-3) will be on Sundayat noon inside Power Gym. Links to live stats of each match will be availableat HurricaneSports.com.
“We got intoa nice rhythm going at home and we need to carry that over to wherever we go,”head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch said. “It is important that we are ready bothmentally and physically to take on the challenges of playing on the road in theACC. Both opponents this weekend have had some great wins this season and weneed to expect the very best from them. We will have to play well in order towin.”
Miamimost recently took down NC State and North Carolina last weekend at the KnightSports Complex to move into a tie for first. The Canes are now No. 15 in thelatest RPI rankings released by the NCAA, the highest mark in the league. Insnapping the Wolfpack’s 10-match winning streak, sophomore middle blockerAlexis Mourning and junior outside hitter Taylor Hollins combined for 25 killson the night. Mourning then racked up 10 block assists against the Tar Heels,one short of the school record set in 2004. As a team, Miami notched aseason-high 18.0 total blocks in the 3-1 win.
TheHurricanes come into the weekend leading the ACC in opponent hitting percentage(.153), assists (13.51/set), kills (14.44/set), blocks (2.95/set) and digs(17.14/set).
Marylanddropped both of its matches on the road last weekend against Duke, 3-0, andWake Forest, 3-1. Ashleigh Crutcher leads the Terps with 233 kills (3.64/set),while Sarah Harper has 251 digs (3.92/set). Miami took the only meeting betweenthe programs last season, 3-1, and leads the all-time series, 9-7.
LantagneWelch graduated from Maryland and has 99 career ACC victories to her record.
BostonCollege has won three of its last four matches, including beating Duke and WakeForest last weekend. Katty Workman and Courtney Castle leads the team with 283kills (4.22/set) and 222 digs (3.31/set). The Canes defeated the Eagles, 3-1, in2011 and have won the last eight in the series.
The UMTicket Office is pleased to offer single game tickets to home volleyball matchesat the Knight Complex for as low as $3. Call 1-800-GO-CANES to order yourtickets today.
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