Miami volleyball posts losing record in Sports Imports Classic – The Miami Hurricane

The Miami Hurricanes’ volleyball team, at 5-0 and ranked No. 20 in the nation, had an underwhelming show at the Sports Imports Classic in Columbus, Ohio this past weekend, losing twice and winning just once.

The ’Canes opened up their tournament slate on Friday against the hosting team, the Ohio State Buckeyes. While the first two sets were close, Miami ended up getting swept by the Buckeyes in just three sets to lose their first match of the season with the final scores being: 25-21, 25-21, 25-16.

Miami had 11 service errors and a .078 hitting percentage, while the Buckeyes were led to victory by graduate student Emily Londot, who had 16 kills, 13 digs and three blocks. Junior Flormarie Heredia Colon was the top performer for the Hurricanes, with 12 kills and six digs.

On Saturday, Miami dropped its second match of the season with a 3-1 loss to Wright State. The final scores were: 25-22, 25-20, 17-25, 25-22. While the ’Canes only lost the first set by three, they spent the entirety of it trailing, as they never led or even tied the Raiders once during the set.

The second set was similar, with UM scoring the first point of the set off an ace by senior Alanys Viera, but trailed the Raiders for the rest of the set. The ’Canes finally won a set in the tournament, winning the third with a kill by redshirt freshman Bianka Lulić. The eventual outcome was still a Wright State win, with Raiders sophomore and UConn transfer Mya Ayro leading the team with 20 kills, two digs and one block. The Raiders went on to go undefeated in the tournament with a 3-1 win against Buffalo on Friday and a 3-1 win against Ohio State on Sunday.

The Hurricanes looked to finish off the tournament on a good note in their final match against Buffalo. This time, it did end up going their way, as they swept the Bulls 3-0, with the final scores being 25-12, 25-22, 25-12.

Aside from a close second set, which included a 8-1 start by Buffalo, the match went very smoothly for the ’Canes. Miami’s victory came largely due to the performances of junior Flormarie Heredia Colon, who had 13 kills, nine digs and two blocks, and sophomore Grace Lopez, who tallied 14 kills, six digs and one block.

The Hurricanes (6-2) will try to rebound from their tough weekend in Ohio by competing back in the 305 Challenge, which Miami is hosting. UM’s first match of this slate is against No. 22 Arkansas (8-1).