Volleyball Travels to Puerto Rico for First Road Contests
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami volleyball program travels to the Caribbean for a pair of road matches at the Puerto Rico Volleyball Classic.
The Canes will open up competition at the third annual Puerto Rico Classic against Towson on Aug. 31, at 8 p.m., and play in the last match on Sept., 1, against Missouri at 8 p.m. The Puerto Rico Classic will be held at the Coliseo Ruben Zayas Montañez in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.
Miami hits the road for the first time this season after a 2-1 start on its home floor at the 2018 Sunshine State Challenge a week ago. The Canes opened up with a 3-1 win against FAU, giving head coach Jose “Keno” Gandara his 100th victory as a head coach and making him the third coach in program history to reach 100 wins at Miami. After dropping their second match of the tournament to FGCU, the Canes bounced back in dominating fashion, sweeping UCF, 3-0, to conclude the tournament.
Redshirt senior Haley Templeton and freshman Chloe Brown led the Canes’ offense and were both named to the Sunshine State Challenge All-Tournament Team. A 2018 Preseason All-ACC honoree, Templeton recorded 111 assists over the first three matches and added 11 kills and five service aces. Brown led the Canes in kills in two of the three matches, recording 19 in her collegiate debut and finishing with 13 in the final match.
Redshirt sophomore Elizaveta Lukianova heads to Trujillo Alto with a team-leading 39 kills and a team-best .325 attack percentage. Brown and Lukianova combined for 76 of Miami’s 139 kills after three matches.
“She’s going to be scouted all season,” Gandara said of Lukianova. “We’re really looking forward to seeing her progress this year.”
Four newcomers were featured in each starting lineup last weekend, as Brown and fellow freshmen Maya Sullivan and Emily Damon were joined by junior Bridget Wallenberger.
A transfer from Milwaukee, Wallenberger finished with a team-leading 14 blocks after her first weekend of competition with the Canes, while Sullivan added four blocks at her first collegiate tournament. Damon was Miami’s starting libero in all three matches last weekend and recorded a team-high 31 digs and seven assists.
The Canes will face off against Towson for the first time in program history. Towson enters Friday’s match with a 1-2 overall record. The Tigers picked up their lone win of the season with a 3-0 sweep against Siena College, while dropping matches to Radford and Loyola (Md.) at the Baltimore Bash last week.
Miami will face Missouri (2-1) on Saturday night. The Tigers opened the season with consecutive wins over Delaware State and Fairfield before dropping their final match of the James Madison Invitational to the host Dukes. Mizzou tied the all-time series with Miami at one after a 3-1 win in 2016.
This weekend’s tournament is a special one for Gandara, as he returns to his native country. The San Juan, Puerto Rico, native is excited for his team to play in a country that is very passionate about the sport of volleyball.
“The atmosphere will be great,” Gandara said. “The fans their know volleyball and love it. It will be fun to see all my friends and family but I’m really excited to be back and have the team experience Puerto Rico.”
Following this weekend’s trip to Puerto Rico, the Hurricanes will travel to Corpus Christi, Texas for a pair of matches against Texas A&M- Corpus Christi and Texas Southern.
All Hurricanes volleyball home matches are played at the James L. Knight Sports Complex on the University of Miami campus. Admission is free.
The University of Miami – Coral Gables Campus has introduced an updated parking policy for the 2018-19 school year. Enforcement is now extended to seven days a week, 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. PayByPhone and additional pay stations are available across all campus parking lots and garages to facilitate visitor parking.
For a complete look at the Hurricanes’ 2018 schedule, click here.
For all the latest information on Miami Hurricanes volleyball, follow the official Twitter feed, @CanesVB, or “Like Us” on Facebook at facebook.com/UMVolleyball. The program is also on Instagram.
