Aug. 29, 2009

Final Stats

Coach Condit's comments on both Saint Louis and Alabama matches

ST. LOUIS - In front of her hometown, Maria Leahy recorded a double-double of 16 kills and 17 digs as the Miami RedHawks earned a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Alabama in their final game at the Active Ankle Challenge. Miami improves to 1-2 on the year, while the Crimson Tide fall to 0-3.

Despite two kills each from Leahy and Hallie Hanks, Miami fell behind 6-10 early in set one. The RedHawks refocused and went on a 12-8 run to tie the score at 18. With the score tied at 21, Amy Raseman recorded the service ace to give Miami a 22-21 lead. Two straight Alabama points put the Crimson Tide ahead 23-22, but Leahy retied the score with a kill off an Andrea Atteberry assist. After an Alabama kill the RedHawks fought off one set point, but with the score 24-25, Alabama scored the set winning point off a Miami attack error.

The second set did not start out well for the RedHawks as they quickly found themselves down 5-10. The teams traded points until a Miami attack error gave the Crimson Tide a 13-9 lead. From there the RedHawks went on an impressive run scoring the next 10 points to take a 19-13 advantage. During that stretch Leahy put down four kills. That lead proved to be more than enough as Michele Metzler put down two kills and Atteberry recorded a service ace en route to the 25-16 set two win.

Alabama jumped to a 10-2 lead in set three. Miami was not able to make a dent in the lead until the score was 19-10 in favor of the Crimson Tide. From there, an 8-2 run keyed by three Hanks kills pulled Miami to within three at 18-21. However, Alabama responded with a 4-1 run of its own to close out the set 25-19.

Set four was tied at seven until a 3-0 run keyed by a Lisa Treadway service ace gave the RedHawks a 10-7 lead. Miami was able to hold a slim lead throughout with Leahy putting down a kill to put the RedHawks in front, 20-16. From there, three kills by Metzler and two by Jenn Caylor gave Miami a 25-19 victory.

Two kills from Griffin, a service ace from Hanks and a block by Griffin and Leahy put the RedHawks in front 7-3 in the fifth and final set. Metzler recorded two more kills as Miami won six of the next seven points to increase its lead to 13-4. Alabama scored six of the next seven points, but a service error gave Miami the 15-10 win and the match three sets to two.

In addition to Leahy's 16 kills, Hanks put down 15 and Metlzer recorded 12. Treadway had 13 digs, while Caylor and Colleen Loftus each had a career-high 12 and 10 digs respectively. Atteberry led the team with 46 assists. Miami hit .218 for the match, compared to .196 for the Crimson Tide.

The RedHawks return to action on Saturday, Sept. 5 when they travel to Indianapolis to participate in the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational. Miami will take on Northwestern at 10 a.m. and follow it up with a 4:30 p.m. tilt against Western Kentucky.