Miami Dominates Clemson in 3-0 Sweep
CLEMSON, S.C. – Miami volleyball dominated Clemson on Friday night, sweeping the Tigers 3-0 to improve to 4-2 on the season.
Sophomore middle blocker Janice Leao had a dazzling performance, recording 10 kills off 16 attempts, while hitting a team-high .625. Redshirt senior Elizaveta Lukianova led the Canes with 13 kills and freshman Lauren Tarnoff added 11.
The connection between Leao and sophomore setter Savannah Vach was clearly an issue for the Tigers, they posted a .045 mark to Miami’s .243 clip.
“Before practice, we knew [Clemson] was going to shift to me and Lauren, so our biggest focus was to hit off the hands and try to see where the block was,” Leao said. “We didn’t want to avoid them and make a mistake, so we saw where their hands were and it worked.”
Miami is now 6-for-6 this season on winning the first set after Friday’s 25-16 decision. Tarnoff broke out early with five kills, while Lukianova added four and Leao posted three. Leao also added two service aces to help direct to the Canes to the early 1-0 lead.
Clemson was held to a .047 hitting percentage in the second set, courtesy of Miami’s six blocks and 22 digs. Priscilla Hernandez finished with nine of her final team-leading 15 digs in the second set. Miami took the advantageous 2-0 lead after a 25-16 triumph.
“We made sure everyone had each other’s back and weren’t reaching for balls that weren’t yours,” Hernandez said. “We really went all out on defense.”
The Canes completed the sweep by taking the final set, 25-19. Leao recorded four more kills and three blocks, including the final point on a tip. Vach tallied 10 of her 38 assists in the last set to help Miami bounce back from Thursday night’s 3-2 loss to the Tigers.
“It was a lot of mental work today in order to stay focused through the entire match and we knew our game plan and if we executed we knew we would be successful,” Hernandez said.
Miami returns to Coral Gables Oct. 15 and 16 to host Florida State for its final two matches of the 2020 season.
