Miami Drops Five-Set Battle To Indiana

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami volleyball team dropped a five-set thriller to Indiana at home Friday night.

Freshman Grace Lopez got the match started with a kill and followed it up with a block next to graduate student Janice Leao to make it a 10-9 lead. The set continued neck-and-neck with it tied at 21-all. Despite a .357 kill percentage, the Canes fell 22-25 in the first set to the Hoosiers.

Set two opened up right where it left off. The teams battled hard for every point until consecutive kills from Abby Casiano, Angela Grieve and Lopez gave Miami a 10-7 lead. The Canes held off Indiana and improved to a 17-13 advantage, but the Hoosiers gained speed and made it 20-all once again. After a net violation from Indiana, the Canes secured set two 25-23 to even the match score at 1-1.

Indiana started set three with a 5-1 lead but with two blocks and a kill from Leao, the Canes blew past the Hoosiers to make it 7-6. After three lead changes, the Hoosiers began to pull away and took control of set three, 25-18.

With the match on the line, Miami stepped up and opened the fourth set strong. With consecutive kills from Nyah Anderson and Lopez and an ace from Grieve, the team pulled away for a 10-6 lead. Like usual, the match saw constant ties until Lopez notched an ace for a 25-23 win, tying the match at two-all.

After a riveting fifth set with kills and blocks traded all around, Indiana took the set 15-12 and claimed the victory over the Canes.

Miami will close out the 305 Challenge tomorrow with two back-to-back matchups against Stetson and Jacksonville.

For staying up to date with the Miami Hurricanes volleyball team, make sure to follow @canes_vb on Instagram, X, and Facebook.