It was a packed house at Knight Sports Complex, filled with hundreds of fans yelling, cheering, clapping, stomping, singing and dancing along to “Swag Surfin” in the late sets. All of them were witnessing one of the greatest college volleyball games of 2024. On Friday night, No. 5 Stanford traveled to Knight Sports Complex in Coral Gables to face Miami in their first match-up with Stanford as ACC members. The match was a battle the whole way through, with UM coming out on top in the end.
The final scores of the match were 18-25, 25-21, 20-25, 31-29 and 16-14 with the ’Canes, in total, tallying 73 kills, 61 digs, six service aces and nine blocks. Miami’s star of the match was sensational sophomore Grace Lopez, who tallied an eye-opening 27 kills, along with 13 digs and three blocks. In addition to Lopez, junior Flormarie Heredia Colon had a great performance with 17 kills, 11 digs and a block, and redshirt freshman Ariana Rodriguez managed to tally three aces.
The first set of the match did not go the Hurricanes’ way; however, it did start off well for them when they were leading 14-12 after a kill by junior Dalia Wilson. Right after that, Stanford went on a 5-0 run to take a 17-14 lead. While Miami did try to fight its way back in the set, the Cardinal maintained their advantage for the remainder of the set and finished it off with a kill by junior Elia Rubin to secure a 25-18 set win.
Photo Credit: Sophia Metzner, contributing photographer
Set two started off as good as can be for the ‘Canes, as they came out the gates on fire with a dominating 15-5 lead. Their opening half of the set featured an ace each by Rodriguez, sophomore Ava Carney, and junior Milana Moisio. Despite Miami’s large lead, Stanford managed a comeback to put it within one late with a score of 22-21. Even though Stanford had all the momentum after its comeback, the Hurricanes managed to end the set on a 3-0 run with a kill by Heredia Colon and an ace by Rodriguez to give Miami the 25-21 set victory. This tied up the match at one set apiece.
The third set did not start as well for Miami, with the Cardinal getting out to a 10-3 lead. The ’Canes managed to make a partial comeback, getting the score within two, with Stanford now only having a 12-10 lead. Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, that would be the closest they got to Stanford for the remainder of the set.
A late kill by Carney gave Miami some hope with the score at 24-20. However, on the very next point, the set ended on a sour note, with senior Yaidaliz Rosado hitting the ball into the net on her serve, giving Stanford a 25-20 victory off of a service error and putting it only a set win away from match victory.
Next up was the fourth set – arguably Miami’s most exciting of the entire season. The set started off in Stanford’s favor, as it led 7-3 after an ace by freshman Taylor Yu. Miami then won five of the next six points to tie up the set at eight. The set remained neck-and-neck for a while, with Miami only leading by one after a kill by Wilson to make the score 17-16.
Though it remained close for the rest of the set, the ’Canes were in trouble late after four straight points by Stanford, featuring an ace by Rubin and kills by senior Sami Francis and redshirt freshman Ipar Kurt to put Stanford a point away from victory at a score of 24-22.
Miami did not back down, as it tied up the score after a service error by Rubin and a kill by Carney to send the set into extra points. The next six points were back-and-forth, with Miami tying Stanford to keep the match going three times.
Then, thanks to a kill by Lopez, Miami finally gained a lead at 28-27. The crowd was going crazy. Fans were on their feet, making the gym almost as loud as Hard Rock Stadium for Miami football’s recent game against Florida State. After a timeout, Stanford tied it up, but redshirt freshman Bianka Lulić gained a kill right after to once again give the Hurricanes the lead.
Stanford tied it up after a kill by Francis to make it 29 for both sides. Finally, Miami finished off the set with a kill by Lopez and an error by Stanford gave the ‘Canes a 31-29 set victory and sent the match into the final set.
Fans and players alike were pumped up but exhausted. There was just one set left to decide the match. Nearly halfway through the fifth set, it was tied up at seven after a kill by Lopez. The set remained close, but Miami came within a point of victory after back-to-back kills by Carney and Lopez made the score 14-13. Stanford managed to slightly extend the set when it tied it up on the next point, but the ’Canes finished off with a kill by Heredia Colon to give them a 16-14 set win as well as the 3-2 match victory.
After this impressive victory, the Hurricanes improved to 15-7 on the season with an ACC record of 6-5. They also now have three ranked victories this season, with two of them against teams in the top five, as Miami defeated No. 1 Texas on Sept. 7. After this upset, Stanford falls to 16-4 on the season with an 8-3 ACC record. For their next match, the ’Canes will stay at home to face the California Golden Bears (10-13, 2-9 ACC) on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 1 p.m.