Sept. 19, 2008
Final Stats
DAYTON, Ohio - Miami fought off two match points Friday against BIG EAST favorite Louisville, before dropping a five-set thriller (21-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-21, 13-15) in its opening match of the Dayton Flyer Classic. The RedHawks fall to 6-4 on the season, while the Cardinals improve to 4-4.
Louisville jumped to an early 6-3 lead in set one. Miami then played them even for the next 10 points as Emily Schroeder recorded three straight kills for the RedHawks, who found themselves behind, 8-11. Miami continued to play the Cardinals close as Schroeder ended up scoring seven kills in the set. Louisville kept the lead between three and five points for the rest of the set and took the win, 25-21.
It looked like Miami was going to go quickly in set two as it fell behind, 7-14. A 6-0 run featuring two service aces from Andrea Atteberry pulled the RedHawks to within one. After Louisville scored a point, Miami went on another 4-1 run to take its first lead of the set, 17-16. With a 19-18 lead, Schroeder and Megan Griffin teamed up on a block to give the RedHawks a two-point advantage. The Cardinals then went on a 5-3 run to tie the set at 23. From there, Schroeder recorded a kill off an assist from Atteberry, and, on the next point, Maria Leahy scored a kill of her own to give Miami the 25-23 set two win.
The first 14 points of a competitive third set were split seven apiece. The teams continued to trade points until Schroeder recorded a kill to tie it at 14. A 3-1 run by Miami gave the RedHawks their largest lead of the set at 17-15, but Louisville came right back and scored three straight points to take an 18-17 lead of its own. Miami went cold from there, only able to score two more points, and fell in set three, 19-25.
The battle continued in set four as the RedHawks quickly jumped ahead 8-3 in a run that featured three kills and a service ace by Hallie Hanks. An 11-6 run by the Cardinals tied the match at 14, but Miami responded with three straight points, the last of which was finished off by a block from Griffin and Atteberry. Once Miami was able to push the lead to 20-16, Louisville could not get closer than three points the rest of the way, and Griffin scored the kill on set point for the 25-21 win.
In the deciding set, the RedHawks fell behind 3-5, only to take the next four points off three attack errors and a kill by Atteberry. Louisville went on a 6-1 run to take an 11-8 lead. Kills by Leahy and Griffin helped pull Miami to within one at 11-12, but the Cardinals responded with two straight points to get to match point at 14-11. Schroeder and Michele Metzler scored kills to fight off match point twice, but Lousiville forced the RedHawks into an attack error and won the set, 15-13.
For the match, Schroeder led the way with 17 kills. Hanks recorded 15 kills, while Leahy contributed 12. Leahy also led the team with 14 digs. Atteberry recorded a season-high 55 assists.
Miami returns to action Saturday with two more games at the Dayton Flyer Classic. The RedHawks will face the host Flyers at 1 p.m., and then take on 20th-ranked Purdue at 5 p.m.
