Miami Falls in Five to No. 25 UNC

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The University of Miami volleyball team (14-7, 5-5) dropped the 3-2 battle to the No. 25 North Carolina Tar Heels (17-2, 9-1) on Sunday afternoon in the Carmichael Arena.

The Hurricanes tallied 54 kills, 72 digs and 17.0 blocks. Junior Flormarie Heredia Colon earned a career-high 28 kills on a .431 clip, 12 digs and four blocks.

Miami came out strong in the first set, leading 8-5 after a 7-2 scoring run. Redshirt freshman Ariana Rodriguez projected Miami forward with back-to-back kills for the 13-11 lead. UNC grabbed the lead nearing the end of the set until Heredia Colon tallied her fifth kill for the 22-tie. The Tarheels pushed forward with consecutive kills to take the opening set, 26-24.

Set two started with five consecutive kills from four different Hurricanes for the 6-2 lead. UNC then found the same momentum for a 6-0 scoring run and took the 8-6 lead. Miami claimed its eighth block for the dominant 18-14 lead, ultimately taking evening the match after a 25-23 set victory.

The third set was like the others with constant lead changes to kick things off until back-to-back kills from Heredia Colon gave Miami the 13-10 edge. The teams traded points with scoring runs on each side leading to a 21-all tie and Heredia Colon notching a double-double in kills and digs. Despite the team tallying four more blocks, UNC claimed set three, 25-23.

Senior Paula Guersching tied the set at eight coming off the bench. The Hurricanes then went on another 3-0 scoring run to lead 14-10 before UNC came back to tie it at 16. Miami tallied its 15th block after sophomore Ava Carney notched her fourth block to put the Canes up 21-19. The Hurricanes rallied to force a fifth set after a 25-22 win.

UNC controlled set five, leading 9-3. Miami tried to regain the lead, but fell short, 15-8.

The Hurricanes will travel home to face Stanford and Cal on Nov. 1-3, respectively.