Hurricanes Cruise to 14th Sweep of Season Over BC
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The blocking tandem of Aristea Tontai and Peyman Yardimci led the University of Miami volleyball team to its 14th sweep of the season against Boston College on Sunday afternoon inside the Knight Sports Complex.
The sweep marks the most in a season since 2014 when the Hurricanes finished with 14 sweeps. After today’s win, Miami moves to a perfect 7-0 record this year in matches played on Sunday.
The Hurricanes (19-3, 10-2 ACC) controlled the first set, taking it 25-18 over the Eagles (13-13, 3-9 ACC). In a tightly contested second set, Miami pulled out the win, 25-23, and took the final set in commanding fashion, 25-14.
“After Friday’s tough battle, it was nice to win this one comfortably,” said head coach Jose “Keno” Gandara. “Boston College presents a unique challenge with the speed of their offense, and it’s given us fits in the past. If I’m not mistaken, they’ve taken the last few from us. We solved that riddle pretty well today.”
Yardimci and Tontai led the Canes defense at the net with a combined 12 blocks. Yardimci recorded a career-high seven blocks to go along with nine kills and a .389 attacking percentage. For the fourth time this season, Tontai finished a match with five or more blocks after recording five in the win. The graduate transfer added in six kills with an attacking percentage of .337.
“Across the board I thought we were good, but Peyman was particularly good,” Gandara added. “She’s been grinding in practice to improve her blocking, and this was a tough challenge that she managed beautifully. She has such a bright future as both a player and a student. She’s an absolute pleasure, and I’m glad we have her for a bunch more years.”
Savannah Vach recorded her 65th straight match with double-digit assists, dating back to her collegiate debut on Sept. 6, 2019. Vach notched a match-best 35 assists.
Angela Grieve tabbed her 18th game this season with double-digit kills, finishing the match with 12 off a .440 attacking percentage.
Following an opening kill by Boston College, the Hurricanes took four of the next five rallies to take an early lead, 4-2. Janet Kalaniuvalu sent the teams to the media timeout after a kill that put Miami up 15-9. Grieve extended the Canes lead to nine, 19-10, as UM cruised to the 25-18 first set win.
Hanna Bissler pushed Miami’s advantage to five, 9-4, early in the second to force a BC timeout. After trailing by as much as six, 12-6, in the second frame, the Eagles battled back late with a 4-1 run to cut their deficit to one, 21-20. Holding just a one-point lead at 24-23, Kalaniuvalu locked in the narrow second set victory for Miami, 25-23, with a kill.
It was a dominating third set for the Hurricanes who took the opening point and kept their foot on the gas the entire way. Miami jumped in front early, 7-2, and never looked back as back-to-back kills from Janice Leao and Grieve gave the Canes the win, 25-14.
Next, the Hurricanes will travel to Atlanta, Ga., to face No. 14 Georgia Tech at 7 p.m. on Nov. 5.
