UAlbany Volleyball Falls to Miami on Second Day of Tournament

Coral Gables, Fla. - Sophomore outside hitter Lane Carico fell just shy of a double-double with 10 kills and nine digs to lead Miami to a 3-0 victory over UAlbany at the FIU/Miami Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 12 at the James Knight Complex. The Hurricanes posted scores of 25-22, 25-21 and 25-20 for the three-game sweep.

The first set, which featured seven ties and three lead changes, remained tight the entire way as neither team led by more than four points. Hillary White smashed a kill for UAlbany on the first play before Miami scored the next two points to go ahead by one. Valerie Sourbeer's kill knotted up the score at 2-2, but the Hurricanes won the next two rallies and extended their lead to four at 13-9. Coming out of a timeout, the Great Danes were able to tie the match two times before taking a 20-19 lead on another kill by White. A Great Dane attacking error followed by a kill by Ali Becker allowed Miami to regain a slim one-point advantage, but UAlbany stayed strong to knot the score two more times. With the set tied at 22, Miami was able to escape with the set victory by tallying three straight points on kills by Nrithya Sundararaman and Genny Mayhew and a service ace by Udelson Griffin.

The teams once again traded points at the beginning of the second frame before the Hurricanes used a balanced attack to go on a small run and take an 11-6 advantage. Following a Great Dane timeout, Miami got hot and built up a 20-12 lead on a block by Becker and Mayhew. However, UAlbany made another valiant comeback by getting three straight kills and forced Miami to call a timeout. Spearheaded by Sourbeer and White, the Great Danes continued chipping away at the lead until they found themselves within two at 23-21. However, a pair of attacking errors allowed the Hurricanes to take the set.

Beginning with Brooke Stanley's service ace, the teams traded the first six points of the third frame before Miami was able to break the streak and go ahead. A kill and a block on consecutive plays by Kelly Corkum trimmed the Hurricane lead to one at 13-12, but the home team scored four of the next five points to stay in command. The Great Danes rallied again and made it a one-point game at 20-19 when Corkum and Traci Vandegrift stuffed an attack made by Mahew, but it wasn't enough, as Carico knocked down the game point on a set from Gallagher.

In addition to Carico, a 2008 AVCA All-America honorable mention selection, Miami (7-2) was led by Gallagher's 35 assists, eight digs, five kills and five blocks. Lici McGee added seven kills and seven blocks, and Mayhew had eight kills and eight digs.

UAlbany was paced by Stanley, who recorded 34 assists and 16 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. Sourbeer and White finished with 13 and 11 kills, respectively, while Laurie Gonzalez contributed a match-high 21 digs.

UAlbany (4-5) will wrap up play at the FIU/Miami Invitational tomorrow afternoon when it faces 22nd-ranked Florida State at the University of Miami's James Knight Complex at 12 p.m.

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information