It was absolute bedlam at the Knight Sports Complex on Friday night when the No. 18 Miami Hurricanes (15-1, 5-0 ACC) defeated the No. 4 Pitt Panthers (12-3, 4-1 ACC), a night that ended with a ceremonial court-storm.
The Hurricanes’ 15th straight victory came after their opening loss to Indiana and marking the team’s best start since Miami began 15-0 in 2002.
The first set was tight, with the two teams tying the set on 11 separate occasions, along with five lead changes. With the score at 23-23, Dalia Wilson recorded a kill off an Ariana Rodriguez assist to give Miami set point. UM then dropped three straight points to lose the first set, 26-24.
The second set was all Panthers. They started hot, scoring six straight points and extending the lead to 9-3. The margin grew to as many as 11 as Pitt closed out the set, 25-14. This left Miami trailing 2-0 and marked the first time this year the Hurricanes had to fight back from a 2-0 deficit.
Although the third set was again largely even, Miami pulled away late, winning its first set of the night, 25-22. The Hurricanes hit .500 in the set. Flormarie Heredia Colón tallied seven kills, highlighted by scoring four of the final five points of the frame to close it out. Her last kill of the set clinched set point as it resoundingly deflected off the fingers of the Pitt block.
Miami carried the momentum into the fourth set. After the score was tied at 4, the Hurricanes strung together a 7-1 run, prompting a Pitt timeout. The Panthers could not reestablish themselves, as they did not tie or reclaim the lead in the set. This was Miami’s first match that went five sets since Sept. 10, when the Hurricanes defeated Ole Miss.
In the fifth set of contested action, kills from Heredia Colón and Jazmin Vergara gave Miami an early 10-6 lead. Returning the favor, Pitt’s Olivia Babcock tied the score at 11-11. Down the stretch, two Heredia Colón kills, a Rodriguez ace and a final Panthers service error encapsulated a massive upset in Coral Gables.
Miami completed the reverse sweep behind Flormarie Heredia Colón’s 38 kills, a program record, and Ariana Rodriguez’s double-double with 46 assists and 12 digs.
The Hurricanes will have another top-ten matchup when they face No. 10 SMU at home on Sunday at 1:30 p.m., looking to continue their hot streak.