The No. 5 seed Miami Hurricanes had their record season come to an end on Friday night, falling to the No. 4 seeded Kansas Jayhawks, 3-1, in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Even in defeat, UM’s star was in top-form. Senior Flormarie Heredia Colon notched 14 digs and 27 kills, ending her college career with 1,896 kills, more than any other Hurricane in program history. Senior Naylani Feliciano also surpassed 1,000 career digs with 14.
The first set started off neck-and neck with Heredia Colon notching a kill to tie the set at five apiece.
But right after, Kansas pulled away by going on a 5-0 run to make the score 10-5. During the run, Kansas senior Rhian Swanson had back-to-back kills.
The ’Canes never closed the gap for the remainder of the set as the closest they would come after would be when senior Dalia Wilson tallied a kill to bring the Kansas lead down to 16-13. The Jayhawks went on to win the set 25-17, closing with a kill by freshman Selena Leban, taking a 1-0 match lead.
Like set one, the second set started out with a battle with an ace by Wilson giving Miami a slight edge for a 9-8 lead. However, the Jayhawks, trying to replicate the first set, once again went on a 5-0 run, this time to bring their lead to 13-9.
Unlike the first set however, the Hurricanes responded to the run well. Their response was simple: they went on a run of their own. The ’Canes went on a 4-0 run, finishing off with a Heredia Colon kill to tie the match at 13-all. The remainder of the set was a back-and-forth battle with the score being tied late at 21 apiece.
Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, it would be the Jayhawks who would make the finishing blow as they won four out of the final five points. Kansas would win the set, 25-22, bringing them one set from the round of 16, leading 2-0.
Miami started the third set off well, leading 3-2 after a kill by Heredia Colon. In need of a set victory to keep the match and its season alive, Miami controlled the rest of the set, winning three of the last four points, two coming off kills by junior Ava Carney and one by way of an ace from Feliciano. UM would win the set, 25-22, cutting the match score to 2-1.
The fourth and final set began in Miami’s favor with two kills by Heredia Colon and an ace by Wilson gave them an early 4-1 lead. The lead would not last long as a Leban kill tied it up at 5-5.
A 7-1 Kansas run gave them a 14-9 lead, but the ’Canes battled back for the rest of the set with UM even coming within a point of tying the match when they led the set 24-23. However, a kill by Kansas freshman Jovana Zelenovic tied the match and the Jayhawks then won three of the next four points to win the set 27-25 as well as the match, 3-1, sending themselves to the round of 16.
After the loss, Miami’s season comes to a close. They finished with a 27-6 (16-4 ACC) record, tying the 2002 team’s record for wins in a season for the program. This would also be the last time starters Feliciano, Heredia Colon and Wilson as well as other players, Jazmin Vergara and Lilou Stegeman, will wear the Miami uniform as they all will be graduating.
Heredia Colon will continue her volleyball career in Major League Volleyball as she was selected in the second round, No. 10 overall, of the 2025 MLV draft to the Columbus Fury.
Miami will have big shoes to fill next season.
