Volleyball Sweeps FSU on Senior Day
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – It always feels good to beat your rival and it’s even better when you do it on your home court.
The No. 11 Miami Hurricanes swept Florida State, 3-0, on senior day to close out their 2020 fall season. The Canes finished the season with a 5-3 record and its highest ranking in program history to date.
After honoring four seniors prior to Friday’s match, the Canes came out swinging, winning their eighth first set of the season, 25-20. Sophomore middle blocker Janice Leao led both teams in the first set with seven kills and added two blocks. Redshirt senior Elizaveta Lukianova added four more kills and one block to help to Canes edge the Seminoles in the opening set.
“It was so fun winning on senior night and we just wanted to finish on a good note and have these memories of winning,” Lukianova said. “Obviously, beating Florida State and they’re our rivals. We crushed them.”
In the closest set of the match, both teams’ defense was sharp with Miami tallying four blocks and 12 digs. Sophomore libero Priscilla Hernandez added three aces, totaling 15 after eight matches to put Miami within reach the advantageous 2-0 lead.
The Noles staved off three set points in the second to tie the set at 24, but a kill by Janet Kalaniuvalu and an FSU error gave Miami the 26-24 set win. Kalaniuvalu finished the day with nine kills, one block and four digs.
Miami jumped out early with a five-point run to go up 7-4, in the third set. Lukianova added the final six of her 14 kills, while freshman Angela Grieve registered four of her eight kills in the final set to help Miami sweep with a 25-19 set win.
Lukianova finished the eight-match season with a team-leading 149 kills and 21 blocks. Sophomore setter Savannah Vach added 42 assists in Friday’s win to raise her total to 378 on the year and is proud of the way her team responded after Thursday’s loss.
“We followed our game plan a lot better, blocked better, and defended better tonight and our serving was more aggressive,” Vach said. “Ending the season with a win against FSU with our seniors was a great feeling.”
