Miami volleyball headed to Wisconsin coming off a 1-1 split last week in South Carolina. This weekend, the ‘Canes faced off against the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, the hometown Badgers, before ending the weekend against the Arizona Wildcats.
Miami fell 3-0 to Wisconsin in a contest that, aside from some bright spots, was not heavily contested. The first set was back and forth before a 6-0 run by the Badgers made it 12-5. Wisconsin kept the momentum from there to win the set, 25-11.
The second set was a much more competitive bout; an ace from redshirt senior Angela Grieve put the Canes up 8-7, and the set remained contested as freshman Grace Lopez notched consecutive kills to tie the set at 20. Miami was not able to finish the job as it fell 25-23, losing the second set.
The final set was similar to the first. Miami came out strong with Savannah Vach, fresh off being named ACC Setter of the Week, notching a block, followed by Grace Lopez recording her ninth kill of the night to tie the match, 8-8.
Just like in the first set, Wisconsin showed why it is ranked so highly as it pulled away again to end the match with a 25-15 set victory.
The Hurricanes, just like last week, followed up a loss with a dominant victory, securing a 3-0 sweep against the Arizona Wildcats. The first set was a back-and-forth affair that went down to the wire. Fresh off a three-game absence, graduate student Janice Leao made some impactful plays, including a block followed by a kill to give Miami a 19-17 lead. The teams continued to trade points, and Miami eventually pulled out the first set, 28-26, notching 12 kills, 23 digs and five blocks.
The second set started off close, but plays from Vach and sophomore Milana Moisio led Miami to an 11-0 run that put the Canes up 21-8, and Miami finished the set 25-13, recording 14 kills on a .359 percentage. The final set saw Miami led by big plays from Lopez and Nayalani Feliciano, who earned 10 digs to lead UM to a convincing end to the match with a 25-17 set victory.
Taking their third sweep and fifth win of the year, the Hurricanes recorded 41 kills on a 28.9 percentage, 39 assists, 66 digs and 10.5 blocks. The stars of the match included Leao, who had 8 of Miami’s 10.5 blocks, Feliciano with 23 digs and Vach with 30 assists. Miami will return home this weekend to face Indiana, Stetson and Jacksonville in the 305 Challenge.