Miami Closes Homestand Against Florida State Wednesday
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami volleyball team will close out its current homestand against in-state rival Florida State before hitting the road later this week for a conference matchup at Pittsburgh Friday.
The Hurricanes (14-4, 8-4 ACC) have some momentum going into this week after clean home-court wins against NC State and defending ACC champion North Carolina last weekend. Senior outside hitter Olga Strantzali had a double-double in each contest and earned ACC Co-Player of the Week and VolleyMob National Player of the Week honors for her contribution.
Miami goes into this week with a .778 winning record, which is the highest in the ACC. The Hurricanes are No. 30 in the nation in the RPI, which is second-highest after No. 22 Louisville.
Last time the Canes played this week’s opponents, they nearly came back from two sets down against the Panthers, who were then undefeated in ACC play. Four days later, they were on the losing end of another close match against FSU, in which two of the three sets were decided by the minimum two-point margin.
The Seminoles (12-8, 6-6 ACC) come to Coral Gables after winning only one of its last four matches. They have gone 3-4 since last chapter of the rivalry, with two of those victories coming on the road. Florida State split last weekend after a decisive victory against UNC on Friday and a gut-wrenching, five-set loss to NC State on Sunday. The Seminoles twice took the lead against the Wolfpack, but were bested 22-20 in a highly dramatic and memorable fifth set.
Pittsburgh (17-6, 10-2 ACC) is one of the three teams tied at the top of the conference standings along with Louisville and NC State. The Panthers suffered defeats to the other two 10-2 teams since they last saw Miami – back-to-back defeats on Oct. 22 and Oct. 27, respectively, that ended Pitt’s 13-match win streak. The Panthers got back on track, however, taking down Notre Dame in straight sets in Indiana on Sunday.
Following the unusual weekend of home and road play, the Hurricanes will return to the Knight Sports Complex for matches against Boston College (Nov. 9) and Syracuse (Nov. 12).
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