In front of a home crowd at the Knight Sports Complex on Friday night, the University of Miami women’s volleyball team (3-1, 0-0 ACC) delivered a confident 3-0 sweep over North Texas (3-2), finishing with set scores of 25-18, 25-14, and 25-17.
The ’Canes put together a strong team performance, recording 41 kills, 44 digs, 10 service aces, and eight blocks.
Ava Carney, a junior outside hitter, paced the offense with 11 kills, while graduate middle blocker Lilou Stegeman dominated the net with six blocks and added several key kills. Ariana Rodriguez, a redshirt sophomore, ran the offense with 30 assists, and senior libero Naylani Feliciano led the back row with 14 digs and a timely ace in set one.
After falling behind 7-4 early in the first set, Miami flipped the momentum with a kill from Logan Wiley and Feliciano’s ace. A 7-1 run, featuring three kills from Dalia Wilson, pushed the Canes to a 25-18 win.
Set two started close, but back-to-back scoring bursts, fueled by contributions from Amina N’Diaye, Stegeman, and Carney, helped Miami pull away. Carney tallied five kills and an ace in that set alone.
In the final frame, Stegeman stepped up again with 3 kills and 3 blocks to open a 10-2 lead.
Newcomers made an impact too, Billie Reiter dropped in an ace and assisted Simone Baskin on a kill. Later, Yarimar Vergara sparked a late 5-1 run with two aces and a kill, while N’Diaye added a kill and a block assist to close it out.
The Hurricanes head across town Saturday for the final match of the 305 Challenge against UCF.