‘Canes volleyball received a taste of their own medicine, suffering a three set road loss to number one ranked Pitt on Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh, PA. This comes as their second loss this weekend after falling to Southern Methodist University Friday night.
The Hurricanes began the match neck and neck, with multiple lead changes in the first seven points. Pittsburgh freshman Ryla Jones’ kill brought the first set score to 8-6 (Pitt) and began the scoring run for the Panthers. While Miami began to stage their first comeback, they were unable to put a stop to Pittsburgh, and lost the set 25-19.
While the Hurricanes started off the second set with a 2-0 lead, they did not advance much further than that. The Panthers quickly fought back and left Miami in the dust, creating a power imbalance that the Hurricanes could not break. Each attack attempt was thwarted by the blocking power of the Pitt, along with their solid back row that was able to dig Flormarie Heredia Colon’s powerful attacks. The ‘Canes dropped the set with a final score of 25-18.
The third set followed a trajectory that was similar to the first two sets. Miami came into the set with a small lead, but Pittsburgh was able to diffuse it and take over to win the final set 25-18.
Although the Hurricanes did not emerge from their Pitt matchup with the win, Flormarie Heredia Colon earned a win of her own. She broke yet another record in her Sunday afternoon performance, surpassing her 1,000th career kill.
In Coach Jose “Keno” Gandara’s postgame press release, he stressed the importance of getting to compete and be a part of “good battles,” and stated that being able to play in these games is “what you look forward to.” He also highlighted that although the Hurricanes suffered a loss, it gave them an opportunity to grow as a team.
The Hurricanes next face Clemson on Friday at the Knight Sports Complex as they begin to round off their regular season.