'Canes Sweep Sunshine State Classic Host FAU to Go 1-1 on Day 1
BOCA RATON, Fla. – The University of Miami volleyball team swept the Sunshine State Classic host, Florida Atlantic, in their second match of the day on Thursday night on Abessinio Court.
The Hurricanes won in three straight sets with scores of 25-20, 25-15, and 25-18 to split the opening day of the tournament. This is Miami’s seventh sweep of the season.
“I feel good about tonight’s performance,” said head coach Jose “Keno” Gandara. “The big question was how we would handle our first loss. We prepared well, got in the necessary physical and emotional triage, and moved on to tonight’s match. Our plan was good, we were locked in, and we were able to get a bunch of people in and still sweep. All good signs.
“Lots of people played well tonight, but I was especially excited about Ashley Carr’s performance. She was forced into the match this morning, and got her first start tonight. She has a lot of work to do in all aspects of the game, but the improvement from this morning to this evening was significant. Her future is bright, for sure.”
UM’s front row played strong in sets two and three, holding FAU to just a .094 attacking percentage in the second and .049 in the third set to lead the way for the Canes.
After the teams split the first 24 points of the opening set, Angela Grieve got a kill to spark an 8-1 Miami run and put the team up 20-13. The Owls drew as close as four, 20-16, but it was too late as the Hurricanes claimed the first set 25-20.
FAU came out strong in the second frame, darting out to a 4-1 lead early. Unfazed, UM used a 5-0 run ignited by a Peyman Yardimici kill to jump in front 6-4. The teams battled to a 10-10 tie before Savannah Vach found Nyah Anderson for the kill to ignite a 6-0 run for the Canes, putting them up 16-10. Miami never looked back as it went on to the 25-15 victory.
Set three went back-and-forth from the start as the teams traded points to eventually hit an 11-11 draw. Following the tie, the Hurricanes went on a 4-1 run, taking a 15-12 lead. The Owls drew within one of Miami on five separate occasions in set three and as late as 19-18. However, the Canes closed the match on a 6-0 run for the 25-18 set win.
The Hurricanes return to the court Friday afternoon at 1:30 pm (ET) for their third and final game of the Sunshine State Classic against Florida Gulf Coast University.
