After narrowly dropping the first two sets, the No. 13 Miami Hurricanes rattled off three straight sets on Saturday in Chapel Hill to complete the reverse sweep, marking one of their most impressive wins of the season.
The Hurricanes end the regular season at 26-5, riding high on a four-game win streak that includes two victories against the Tarheels within the span of six days. They also finish the season sitting fourth in the ACC at 16-4, trailing SMU, Pitt, and Stanford, teams that are all ranked in the top 10.
Flormarie Heredia Colon continued her good form against UNC, dropping 36 kills in yet another dominant performance for the senior.
The Hurricanes found themselves struggling down 18-10 in the first set thanks to a 6-0 run by the Tarheels. Miami did eventually narrow UNC’s lead to just three, but still dropped the set 25-20.
The second set was far more competitive than the first, with the two ACC rivals sitting at 20 a piece heading into the final stretches of the period.
However, UNC once again pulled away with a 5-0 run to take the second 25-23.
Miami finally found its rhythm late in the third set, going on a late 12-5 spree to spark its comeback and win the set 25-23 off of a Heredia Colon kill.
Launching off of their momentum from the last set, the Hurricanes were never down in the fourth and won the set handily 25-20.
The fifth and final set was similarly dominated by UM, the team finishing off UNC and achieving the reverse sweep 15-10 following an attack error by UNC’s Maddy May.
Other key contributers for Miami besides Heredia Colon includ graduate student Jazmin Vergara and senior Dalia Wilson, both of whom chipped in with 11 kills each.
UM sophomore setter Ariana Rodriguez also had a monster game, earning seven blocks and 54 assists in a steller two-way performance.
The full playoff lineup for this year’s NCAA Division I Volleyball Championships will be revealed Sunday evening at 6 PM on ESPN.
Finishing their regular season with yet another victory, Miami looks poised to earn a top seed and should be ready to make a deep postseason run.
