‘Canes Volleyball has been rolling over their past couple of matches. Sitting at 13-6, Miami is coming off two dominant victories, the first of which came against eleventh-ranked Georgia Tech last Sunday and then against Syracuse on Friday. This time, different name, same result, and against a 14-9 Boston College, the ‘Canes would come up with their third consecutive sweep.
Miami right away was spectacular, with a phenomenal goal from deep out of bounds to keep the ball in play, converting it into their first points of the match. Miami and BC would trade points back and forth until a 9-1 run featuring two of the Canes stars, Freshman Grace Lopez and Sophomore Flomarie Heredia-Colon, put the Canes up 15-8.
Boston did not relent and fought back to make it a one-score affair at 18-17, with Miami leading. That would be the closest things would get as Miami would go on a run, including a Yaidaliz Rosado ace that gave them a four-point lead that Miami would never relinquish. An Angela Grieve kill finished things off for Miami to win the first set 25-23.
The second set would start much similar to the first as Miami traded back and forth with Boston College until the score was 7-6 Boston College. From there, Miami went on an 11-1 run that featured Angela Grieve making plays all over the court, including a series of three straight kills. Both teams would trade a little back and forth from there, but Miami maintained firm control of the set, and plays by Lopez, Colon, Grieve, and sophomore Cienna Tejada led Miami to take the set 25-16 and a 2-0 match lead.
Another great play started off the third set as Miami tracked the ball off the lights of the Knights Sports Complex ceiling and kept it in play, converting it into a kill for Grace Lopez. This set started shaky for Miami as some serving errors prevented any momentum and allowed Boston College to take their largest lead of the match at 10-6. Miami pushed back, and consecutive Colon kills tied Miami back up at 10. Later, Savannah Vach made her mark on the day with some notable blocks that contributed to a 6-0 run that would put the Canes up 16-11.
Some plays from BC brought the game back closer, but Miami would take back control quickly with plays from all around to put Miami on match point. To end the match, the reigning ACC Freshman of the Week, Grace Lopez, sent a serve that was too hot for Boston College to handle, giving Miami the set at 25-19 and the match 3-0.
The stat leaders for the match included Grace Lopez, leading the Canes in kills with 16 and sharing the lead in blocks with Savannah Vach with two. Vach also led in assists, totaling 36. Yaidaliz Rosado led with 17 digs, tailed by Angela Grieve, who was also second in kills on the day with nine.
With that win, the Canes improved to 14-6 on the year and currently sit fourth in the standings in the ACC, right behind No. 13 Georgia Tech. Miami will go on the road next week, where they have struggled this year, sitting at 2-4 in road matches. Their first is against Notre Dame and then against the ACC’s top-ranked team and the fifth-ranked team in the nation, the Louisville Cardinals. Miami, who just upset the then-eleventh-ranked Georgia Tech, will hope to keep their sweep streak going next Sunday in South Bend Indiana against the Fighting Irish at 1 p.m.