Oh, what a night.
Saturday evening, Miami volleyball pulled off an astonishing upset against back to back NCAA champions and #1 ranked Texas in their home arena at the Texas Invitational. It was a five set thriller of a match with Miami pulling off a tough come back after being down two sets. The final scores were: 19-25, 17-25, 26-24, 25-18, and 15-11.
With the victory, head coach, Jose ‘Keno’ Gandara earned his 200th career win at Miami as well as the highest-ranked win in program history. The team totaled 54 kills, 56 digs, 53 assists and 11 blocks. Sophomore Grace Lopez led the team with 20 kills, 15 digs and four blocks, while Junior Flormarie Heredia Colon was second with 16 kills, five digs, and three blocks.
It was a tight first set, with Heredia Colon earning a kill to give Miami a 10-9 lead. Soo after however, Texas began to pull away, and even with eight kills (13 kills for the team in total for the set) from Heredia Colon and Lopez keeping the battle close, Miami never managed to fully close the game and dropped the opening set, 25-19.
Miami was down early in the second set, with Texas leading 6-2. After a kill from Lopez as well as some errors by Texas Senior and 2023 NCAA Division I women’s volleyball tournament Most Outstanding Player, Madisen Skinner and Redshirt Sophomore Marianna Singletary, Miami cut it to a 7-6 score. Texas then had a run of their own and increased their lead to 11-6. The Canes kept it close near the end of the set with a kill from Sophomore Ava Carney to keep them within three, making the score 18-15. The Longhorns finished the set off with a 7-2 run to take the second set, 25-17.
With their backs against the wall, the ‘Canes turned it on. The third set was a close battle the whole way through. The largest lead that either side obtained was only four points. The Canes led late 22-19 when Texas, led by two kills and an ace from Skinner, came back on a 5-1 run to bring them within a point to victory, leading 24-23. Miami did not back down, they went on a 3-0 run with a kill by Heredia Colon, an ace by Lopez, and Redshirt freshman Ariana Rodriguez secured the set-three win, 26-24, with a block and forced a fourth set.
The Canes claimed an early lead in the fourth set, going up 11-6. Texas fought back bringing the score to 15-all. After a 7-3 run, featuring kills by Junior Dalia Wilson, Rodriguez, Lopez, and Heredia Colon, Miami forced a fifth set after claiming set four, 25-18.
Lopez started the Canes off strong in the fifth and final set, earning two kills in their opening 4-1 run. Senior Paula Guersching kept their strong start going with two kills to make it a 7-4 lead. The Longhorns almost tied it all up after two kills by Texas Senior Jenna Wenaas to make it 9-8. Then the Canes ended the match with a 6-3 run that consisted of 3 kills from Lopez, a kill from Guersching, and an ace from Heredia Colon to give the Canes both the final set, 15-11, and the win, 3-2.
After the win, Miami finished their five game road trip in Texas after beating Rutgers, Colorado, and North Texas in the North Texas Invitational as well Indiana and Texas in the Texas Invitational and will move to stay undefeated at 5-0, while Texas earned their second loss of the season falling to 2-2. Miami will next travel to Columbus, Ohio, to face Ohio State, Wright State, and Buffalo in the Sports Imports Classic starting on September 13th.