Sept. 16, 2011
Final Stats
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Miami made a valiant comeback attempt from a two-set deficit, but ultimately fell, 2-3 (23-25, 10-25, 27-25, 25-21, 11-15) to Saint Louis in the opening match of the Tar Heel Classic Friday afternoon. Amy Raseman led the way for the RedHawks with 14 kills, while Kayleigh Cox had a career-high seven block assists. Miami falls to 9-3 overall, while the Billikens improve to 4-4.
Saint Louis opened up a 10-6 lead to begin set one. A solo block from Jenn Caylor was the start of a 5-1 Miami run that tied the score at 11. After falling behind again, 13-16, two kills from Lisa Treadway helped pull the RedHawks even at 18. Tied at 22, the Billikens scored the next two points to create set point. Miami forced an attack error to keep the set alive, but SLU would score the winning kill on the next point to earn a 25-23 win.
Falling behind 0-8 in set two would kill any chance of the RedHawks taking the second set. The deficit would eventually reach 15 at 5-20. Miami would score the next three points, but Saint Louis would quickly finish off a 25-10 victory, setting the stage for the Red and White to attempt their comeback.
Two kills from Treadway and a service ace by Meg Riley would give Miami a 4-0 lead in set three. Raseman would record two kills, but the Billikens would eventually tie the set at 13. Raseman answered with back-to-back kills to return the advantage to the RedHawks. Miami would extend the lead to 20-16 thanks to two blocks, one by Raseman and Christina Menche, the other by Riley and Cassie Farrell.
After two more kills by Treadway, Miami would be in front, 23-19. However, Saint Louis would score the next five points in row to create match point at 24-23. Treadway would fight that one off with a kill off of Jackie Lang's assist, but SLU would score the next point to have another match point at 25-24. This time Raseman put down a kill off of Riley's assist to tie the score once again. Cox then turned the set in favor of the RedHawks, scoring a kill to give Miami set point at 26-25, and then teaming up with Raseman for a block to give the Red and White a 27-25 win.
Two blocks and a kill from Cox helped Miami jump to an 8-4 lead in set four. Two kills and a service ace by Raseman would help the Red and White eventually expand the advantage to 18-12. In front 23-15, a 6-0 run by Saint Louis would make things interesting as the Billikens pulled to within two. However, the run was ended by a SLU attack error on the next point, and Caylor put down a kill to secure a 25-21 win for the RedHawks at tie the match at two sets apiece.
It appeared early on that the final set would go Miami's way as two kills from Raseman, a service ace by Riley and a kill from Caylor would give the RedHawks a 4-1 lead. After splitting the next two points, Saint Louis went on a 5-0 run to take a 7-5 lead and force a Miami timeout. Trailing 6-8, kills from Farrell and Riley would retie the score at eight. Tied at nine, Cox would keep the RedHawks in the match with two kills as the teams traded points until it was tied at 11. From there, the Billikens would score the next four points to gain a 15-11 victory and take the match, 3-2.
Miami recorded a season-high 13.5 blocks as a team on Friday. In addition to her seven block assists, Cox had seven kills and a team-high .462 hitting percentage. Madison Hardy had a team leading 22 digs, while Treadway just missed a double-double with nine kills and 12 digs. Riley led the RedHawks with 25 assists.
Miami completes play at the Tar Heel Classic with two matches on Saturday. The RedHawks will take on the host, North Carolina, at noon. They will then face Tulsa at 5:30 p.m.
