Fresh off getting a sweep at Syracuse on Friday, Oct. 18, the Miami Hurricanes volleyball team stayed by obtaining a second straight sweep, beating Boston College 3-0 up in Chestnut Hill, Mass. on Sunday, Oct. 20.
The final scores of the match were 26-24, 25-7 and 27-25, with the ’Canes, in total, tallying 45 kills, 44 digs, 10 service aces and eight blocks. Leading the way was redshirt freshman Ariana Rodriguez with nine kills, seven digs, six aces and two blocks and leading the team in kills was sophomore Grace Lopez with 11.
The first set was neck-and-neck from start to finish, with neither side gaining an advantage greater than four points, which only came once when Miami led 20-16. The score was tied early after a kill by senior Paula Guersching made five a piece. The score was still close for the rest of the set but the Hurricanes obtained some separation late after the two stars of the match, Rodriguez and Lopez, had back-to-back kills to make the score 19-16.
Despite the ‘Canes’ slight separation, the set was tied late at 24, forcing the match to go past the typical 25 to win, so now the winning team needs to win by two. The set ended soon after with Miami taking the set 26-24 to give themselves an early match lead.
The second set was a breeze for the Hurricanes. Miami bursted out of the gates, setting things off strong on 10-0, which featured not one, not two, not three, not four, but five aces by Rodriguez. Guersching also shined during the run tallying three kills. Later in the set, junior Milana Moisio also managed to tally two aces. The Hurricanes simply dominated all of set two with the Eagles never even getting close and the ‘Canes won the set 25-7.
While the third and final set was a hard fought battle, the result was no different for Miami. Things started out strong for the Hurricanes with back-to-back aces by Guersching to give them an early lead of 7-4. The ‘Canes managed to keep their lead until Boston College tied it up late to make the score 21 each. The late tie did not discourage Miami, they closed out the set after back-to-back kills by Lopez to give them both the set win 27-25 as well as the match sweep 3-0.
After the win, the Hurricanes improved to 13-6 on the season with a record of 4-4 in the conference. As for the Eagles, they fall to a record of 8-12 with a tough conference record of 1-7. For their next match, the Hurricanes will travel to Durham, N.C. to face the Duke Blue Devils (8-11, 4-4 ACC) on Friday. After that they will not have to go far as they face the North Carolina Tar Heels (15-2, 7-1 ACC) on Sunday in Durham.