A Message From the Athletic Director - September 2019
Hurricane Fans,
We’ve had another exciting start to the fall semester for Miami Athletics and we have another action-packed weekend to close out the month of September.
Our football team evened its record at 2-2 with a win over Central Michigan last Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium. Quarterback Jarren Williams, who is completing 72 percent of his passes with seven touchdowns and no interceptions, has earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors the last two weeks in a row. The Canes defense ranks first in the ACC and ninth nationally in third-down defense and has already forced eight turnovers, helping us rank 10th in the country in turnover margin.
Next up for Manny Diaz’s squad is a crucial home stretch – three ACC Coastal Division foes in a row – starting with Virginia Tech on Saturday, October 5, at 3:30 p.m. Virginia comes to town on Friday, October 11, for an 8 p.m. kick before Georgia Tech visits on Saturday, October 19. We need the energy of our home crowd more than ever as we jump into the heart of our conference schedule. I look forward to seeing all of you cheering on the Canes at Hard Rock Stadium the next three weeks!
Three of our first four football games have been televised exclusively on ACC Network, which is providing us with a tremendous platform to help promote and showcase our teams, our student-athletes and our University to a wide audience. Providers across the country are carrying ACCN, including DIRECTV, Dish, Spectrum, NCTC, Fios, Google Fiber, Hulu, Sling, Optimum, PlayStation Vue and YouTube TV. In addition, AT&T U-Verse agreed to a deal in principle earlier this week so Canes fans can now tune into Channel 1610 to watch!
The lone major cable provider that isn’t carrying the network is Comcast. I encourage Canes who have Comcast to call them and demand ACCN! We want everybody to be able to watch every Canes game for every sport this season.
Sarah Barnes’ soccer team lost its ACC opener at Virginia Tech last weekend, dropping its overall record to 3-3-1. They play at Boston College tonight before returning to campus for their conference home opener against Pittsburgh on Sunday night at 7 p.m. The game against the Panthers will be our first in-house ACCN broadcast. We hope to see you rooting on the Canes at Cobb Field or by tuning into ACCN!
Keno Gandara’s volleyball team won two five-set matches at the Sunshine State Challenge this past weekend in Orlando, defeating FAU and UCF. The Canes evened their record at 4-4 and now head to Tobacco Road to start ACC play, facing Wake Forest on Friday at 6 p.m. and Duke on Sunday at 1 p.m. Good luck to the Canes!
Both of our tennis teams started their fall campaigns this past weekend. Our women’s team – led by defending national champion Estela Perez-Somarriba — posted a 13-2 overall record at the Miami Fall Invite here in Coral Gables, while sophomore Daevenia Achong advanced to the finals of the Milwaukee Invitational. Estela will join three of her teammates this weekend in Orlando for the USTA Fall Ranked Spotlight, while the rest of the team will head to Williamsburg, Va., for the ITA Hall of Fame Classic.
Our men’s team competed in tournaments at South Carolina and Princeton last weekend as junior Adria Soriano Barrera advanced to the singles final at the Gamecock Invitational. Next up for Aljosa Piric’s squad is this weekend’s Southern Intercollegiate Invitational in Athens, Ga. I also want to congratulate Aljosa on becoming an American citizen earlier this month! I know it was a special day for Aljosa and his family and we’re grateful they have made Miami their home.
Our swimming and diving team hosts its first dual match this Friday at 3 p.m. at Norman Whitten Pool against Florida. The following day the Canes head across town for a dual meet versus FIU. Good luck to our swimmers and divers as they start their seasons!
Our men’s and women’s basketball schedules have been released and both teams have a terrific lineup of teams coming to Watsco Center. Jim Larrañaga’s men’s squad tips off the season with a home conference game against Louisville on November 5. The Hurricanes’ home slate also includes visits from Duke, Florida State, Syracuse and defending national champion Virginia. Katie Meier’s women’s team hosts ACC foes Duke, Florida State, Louisville and Syracuse in addition to non-conference matchups against Oregon State and Indiana. Call 1-800-GO-CANES to secure your season tickets for Canes basketball!
Last week our women’s team had the honor of hosting the U.S. Women’s National Team as they practiced at Watsco Fieldhouse in preparation for the FIBA AmeriCup in Puerto Rico. Mykea Gray and Beatrice Mompremier were invited to train with the squad, which included WNBA stars Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles and Diana Taurasi.
Reigning NCAA pentathlon champion Michelle Atherley represented USA Track & Field for the first time earlier this month, finishing third in the heptathlon at the Thorpe Cup in Germany. Congratulations to Michelle on the first of what we hope are many appearances in red, white and blue!
Baseball head coach Gino DiMare continues to build and develop his roster as Baseball America recently ranked our 2019 recruiting class first in the ACC and 12th nationally. Two pitchers in the class – Dylan Eskew and Alex McFarlane — were selected in the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Gino also just announced our team’s annual fall game, which will take place on Saturday, October 26, against FAU. First pitch at The Light will be at 1 p.m. We hope to see you there!
The latest phase of construction for the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility — our spectacular new football recruiting area — is nearly complete. I want to again extend my heartfelt thanks to Carol Soffer and her family for the lead gift for this magnificent facility. We have raised more than $37 million of the $40 million we need so we are not done yet — and we still need your support. One exciting way to give is the New Miami Fund, which gives you an exclusive opportunity to have your name etched into one of the player chairs in the refurbished Edgerrin James Team Meeting Room. Your donations will continue to ensure that this facility continues to be one of the best in the country. Visit uhurricaneclub.com to pledge your support.
For the latest information on each of our varsity teams, please be sure to visit HurricaneSports.com or follow us on Twitter @MiamiHurricanes. I hope you enjoy this month’s magazine!
Go Canes!
Blake James
