Aug. 24, 2007
Box Score
NORMAL, Ill. - Miami University's volleyball team battled for four games but came up short in a four-game loss (28-30; 30-23; 27-30; 25-30) to Valparaiso in its season opening match at the Redbird Classic Friday night. Miami (0-1) tied up the match after a 30-23 win in game two, but early Valparaiso (1-0) leads at the beginning of games three and four were too much to overcome for the RedHawks.
Two kills apiece by freshman middle hitter Michele Metzler and senior outside hitter Jeanna Staun, combined with four Valparaiso errors vaulted Miami to a 10-6 advantage in game one. After the Crusaders cut the Miami lead to two, 16-14, two kills by Staun extended the Miami lead back to four at 19-15. Back-to-back service aces by Valparaiso's Allison Sears tied the match up at 20-20. The match was tied as late as 26-26, but two Miami errors gave Valparaiso a three-point cushion at 29-26. A kill by sophomore middle hitter Megan Griffin and a solo block from junior outside hitter Emily Schroeder closed the gap to 29-28, but a Miami error gave the Crusaders a 30-28 win.
Game two began just the same as game one as two service aces by senior middle hitter Carli Reihman gave the RedHawks a 10-6 lead. A kill by Sears cut the Miami lead to 15-14, but the RedHawks went on a 5-0, run thanks to a solo block by Schroeder and two service aces by Staun, to go up 20-14. Down the stretch, kills by Metzler, Staun, and Schroeder lifted Miami to a 28-20 lead and Miami took game two, 30-23.
Contrary to the start of the first two games, Valparaiso came out of the blocks strong and took a 13-8 lead in game three. Kills by Reihman and Staun along with two Crusader errors closed the Miami deficit to 14-12. A kill by Tara Newton gave Valparaiso a 15-12 lead, but back-to-back kills by Schroeder followed by a Metzler kill knotted the game at 15-15, forcing a Crusader timeout. The match remained tied as late as 20-20 until Valparaiso rallied off three straight points, taking a 23-20 lead. Trailing by four, 27-23, Miami scored three consecutive points to cut its deficit to 27-26, but Valparaiso took game three 30-27.
Valparaiso used the momentum it gained from its game three victory to take an 11-3 lead at the start of game four. Defense cut the Valparaiso lead to four as Metzler and Reihman teamed up twice for block assists, while Metzler added a solo block to make the score 15-11. Trailing 20-15, an attack error and a block from Griffin and sophomore setter Andrea Atteberry cut the deficit to three, 20-17. Back-to-back service aces by Schroeder followed by a block assist from Reihman and sophomore middle hitter Hallie Hanks led the Miami charge as the RedHawks rallied off four consecutive points to trail 25-24. Two kills from Angie Porche, however, gave the Crusaders a 30-25 game four win.
Schroeder finished the match with a match-high 18 kills, while Atteberry had a team-best 15 digs.
Porche, Nicole Schulz, and Sears had 18 kills, 17 kills and 16 kills, respectively.
Miami concludes the Redbird Classic tomorrow at noon (CT) against tournament host Illinois State.
