Miami Volleyball pulled off its biggest win of the year on Friday night, coming back from two sets down to defeat the No. 5 SMU Mustangs, 3-2, in Dallas, Texas.
The reverse sweep gave the Canes both their first road win and first ranked win of the season, extending their winning streak to six.
Final scores of the match read: 22-25, 19-25, 25-22, 33-31 and 15-9, with Miami tallying 70 kills, 56 digs, 17 blocks and five aces.
Without a doubt, the star of the match for the Canes was freshman Ruth Martinez, who notched an outstanding, career-high 29 kills along with six blocks. Redshirt junior Ariana Rodriguez also had a night to remember, tallying 54 assists and three aces, the last of which broke the program record for career aces.
Set one did not go the Hurricanes’ way, as SMU jumped out to a 6-1 lead. Miami fought back, winning five of the next six points capped off by a Martinez ace, and later went on a 3-0 run to make it 20-19. Unfortunately for UM, back-to-back aces by SMU sophomore Suli Davis made it 24-20, and the Mustangs won the set 25-22.
Set two started out neck-and-neck, but a 6-0 SMU run turned a 7-7 tie into a 13-7 lead. The Mustangs led by as many as eight as they closed out the set 25-19 to put the Hurricanes one set away from defeat.
Facing elimination, Miami came out strong in set three, taking a 4-1 lead off a solo block by sophomore Asia Harvey. The set remained a back-and-forth battle until SMU took a 16-15 lead. That was when the Canes took over, as kills by Harvey, sophomore Sonja Danilovic and Martinez on three straight points gave UM an 18-16 lead it never gave back. Miami won the set 25-22.
Next was probably Miami’s most exciting set of the season, as well as its longest. Neither team led by more than three points the entire way.
After SMU answered a 20-17 Miami lead with four straight points, the set turned into a battle that went deep into extra points. Miami had four chances to win it between 24-23 and 27-26, but the Mustangs answered each time. SMU then came within a point of winning the match at 28-27 and 29-28, but the Canes did not back down.
Martinez came through with a kill and then combined with senior Lal Akin for a block to give Miami a 30-29 lead. After ties at 30 and 31, back-to-back attack errors by SMU junior Favor Anyanwu gave the Hurricanes a 33-31 set victory, sending the match to a fifth set.
Now on even terms in the match, the Hurricanes took over to complete the comeback.
After a Martinez kill won the first point, Rodriguez served the next four to give UM a 5-0 lead. Hurricanes later won four of the final five points, capped off by a Rodriguez ace to give Miami a 15-9 set win and the 3-2 match victory.
The Hurricanes will aim to continue their recent hot streak, facing off in another ranked matchup against No. 2 Pitt on Sunday afternoon.
First serve is set for 12 p.m. on Oct. 18.