Talk about a sendoff for the seniors.
The University of Miami volleyball team (18-11, 11-8) needed a mere total of six sets to put away ACC foes Maryland and Boston College over the weekend. The Hurricanes won both contests by scores of 3-0 respectively.
The two matches were dedicated to the seniors of the team as Maria Andersson, Genny Mayhew, Griffin Udelson and Cassie Loessberg will all wrap up their Hurricane careers in a Wednesday matinee against Florida State later this week.
All four departing players contributed to the victories, whether it was Mayhew playing with a partial cast on her left hand, Udelson on the sidelines wearing a knee brace that seemed to cover every inch of her right leg, Loessberg scouring around the court for her trademark digs or Anderson setting up for one of her classic sinking, line drive serves.
“No! I’m not going anywhere,” joked senior libero Cassie Loessberg, who tallied up 43 digs over the weekend. “It hasn’t really hit me yet because I don’t think I want to admit it…four years gone by so fast.”
It was a nice way to say farewell. The weekend brought solid turnouts to the stands of the Knight Sports Complex, and the Hurricanes’ impressive play made the atmosphere electric.
While all of the seniors will surely be missed come next season, each left a substantial mark on this program and will not be forgotten.
“They’re a great group of seniors. They’ve been through a lot in terms of some young teams in their early years and then these more mature teams these last two years and really helped take us up into a new level,” head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch said. “I think the thing that they always realize is when their senior year is happening, how fast the time really goes in the four years.”
Needless to say it’s been time well spent for the seniors. Loessberg will leave with such accolades as UM’s all time single match dig leader and Mayhew reached the milestone of joining the 1,000 kill club earlier this season.
It was only fitting to have all four of these players on the court at one point or another during such an impressive display of volleyball over the weekend. They have all meant so much to the program, and Lantagne Welch will certainly have her hands full trying to find adequate replacements come next year.
“We’ve had a lot of special moments and they’re great people besides volleyball players, so they will be definitely missed,” Lantagne Welch said.
Adam Berger may be contacted at aberger@themiamihurricane.com.