@CanesVB Ready for LSU Tournament
BATON ROUGE, La. – The University of Miami volleyball team hit the road for a pair of non-conference matches in the capital of Louisiana.
The Hurricanes are headed to Baton Rouge toplay matches against Purdue and the host LSU Tigers. Miami will face Purdue at 6 p.m. on Sept. 12 and is scheduled to take on LSU at 2 p.m. on Sept. 13 in a match that will be broadcasted live on SEC Network+.
Miami will look to senior middle blocker Alexis Mourning for leadership on and off the court this weekend. Mourning currently ranks second in the ACC with a .457 hitting percentage and has been one of Miami’s top players at the net. The senior ranks third on the Canes with 46 kills and leads all Miami players with 23 blocks on the season.
A pair of stellar sophomores are also expected to make a big impact for the Hurricanes as outside hitter Olga Strantzali and setter Haley Templeton play key roles for Miami.
Strantzali, who leads the Hurricanes with 88 kills and 11 service aces, ranks fifth in the ACC with 3.67 kills/set and seventh with 0.80 aces per set. She is also third in the conference with 4.50 points/set. Last weekend, Strantzali had a career-high 24 kills against Marquette – the most kills by Hurricane during the 2015 season.
Templeton, who has 233 assists on the year, ranks fourth in the ACC with 9.71 assists/set. The sophomore is also second on the Hurricanes with eight services aces this season and ranks third on the team with a .353 attack percentage.
Miami also has gotten solid all-around play from junior Kelsie Groot and seniors Taylor Scott and Kalysta White. Groot currently ranks second on the Canes with 63 kills and fourth on the team in blocks (13) and digs (36), while Scott’s 42 kills and six aces each rank third on the squad and White leads the Canes with 81 digs.
Two freshmen stepped up a week ago at the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational as Lucia Pampana and Anna Haak emerged as contributors while playing on their first collegiate road trip. Pampana recorded eight blocks while making her first collegiate start in Miami’s match against Marquette, while Haak first collegiate start came against Oral Roberts and included nine kills and an ace.
Experienced players like sophomore middle blocker Sakile Simmons, senior setter Caitilin Donahoe and sophomore defensive specialists Michele Marenus and Sylvia Hernandez combine with talented freshmen Kolby Bird and Codi Lee as players who have contributed for the Hurricanes so far in 2015.
Miami hits the road for the final time in its non-conference schedule, playing in its second road tournament in the month of September. The Canes will close out the non-conference portion of their 2015 schedule next week with the FIU/Miami Challenge, hosting Seattle University at 7 pm on Sept. 17 and UCF at 7 PM on Sept. 18. Both matches will be play at the James L. Knight Sports Complex and admission is free.
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