Canes' Strong Start Canceled By Pitt, 3-1
By Teodor Handarov
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami volleyball team won its 10th straight set, but ultimately fell 3-1 to a strong Pittsburgh team at the Fitzgerald Field House on Friday night.
The Hurricanes (15-5, 9-5 ACC) enjoyed a bright start at one of the most unhospitable venues in the conference, but the Panthers (18-6, 11-2 ACC) limited Miami to .092 combined hitting in the last three sets to solidify their place at the top of the conference standings with a 22-25, 25-16, 25-11, 25-20 victory.
Junior outside hitter Kolby Bird led Miami on the night with 18 kills, while senior outside hitter Olga Strantzali registered 12. Strantzali, who entered the match as the VolleyMob National Player of the Week, was one of the two Hurricanes to come out of the defeat with a double-double after contributing 14 digs on the defensive end. The other was redshirt junior setter Haley Templeton, who finished with 42 assists and 12 digs. This was Templeton’s 10th double-double in 2017.
Senior libero Sylvia Hernandez paced the team defensively with 15 out of the Canes’ 52 digs. Her counterpart Angela Seman had match-high 19 for Pitt. Kayla Lund led the Panthers with the same number offensively, joined in double digits by Nika Markovic (15) and Stephanie Williams (11).
Miami came out with high confidence and took the opening set, 25-22. The Hurricanes led by as many as six, but had to withstand a fierce Panthers rally late on. Calling a timeout with a frail one-point lead, the Canes came out composed and closed the set with kill by Bird, followed by an error from Pitt’s Layne Van Buskirk. Miami hit .417 as a team in set one, committing only two errors in the frame.
Pitt started the second set by winning four straight points, setting the tone for what was to come. Strantzali’s back-to-back service aces cut it to one at 4-3, but that was the closest Miami came to the Panthers before Pitt won the set 25-16. Pittsburgh’s lead peaked at 12 before the Canes managed to end the set one a 5-2 run. Bird contributed four of Miami’s modest seven kills in the set.
Despite already leading by double digits at 16-6, when Miami took its second and final timeout, Pitt did not let up and won seven of the final 10 points of the set to close it with a resounding 25-11 scoreline. This tied for the fewest points Miami has scored in a 25-point set this season. The only other team to limit the Canes to 11 points was Notre Dame in the Hurricanes’ 3-1 road victory on Sept. 29. That win was ninth straight for Miami to start the season.
A 6-2 Miami run allowed the Canes to tie the fourth set at 15 all on a kill by redshirt freshman outside hitter Elizaveta Lukianova, but Markovic quickly regained the Panthers’ momentum with a kill and an ace for 17-15. The Slovenia native later had back-to-back kills that increased her team’s lead to five before Pitt closed the set and match at 25-20.
Miami is off for the rest of the week and will continue its ACC schedule next Thursday, when it welcomes Boston College to the James L. Knight Sports Complex. First serve in Coral Gables is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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