Squad picks up two victories on road

The women’s volleyball team has won eight consecutive matches after defeating Duke and Wake Forest last week. With three matches remaining in the regular season, the Hurricanes are playing the best they have all year.

Miami traveled to North Carolina for a pair of road matches and came away with their 22nd and 23rd victories of the year, beating the Duke Blue Devils 3-0 on Thursday and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 3-1 on Saturday. Miami now holds a 23-3 overall record and a 14-3 record in ACC play.

On Thursday night, Miami had arguably its most dominant performance of the 2011 season against the Blue Devils. Not a single player on Duke’s team reached the double-digit kills mark, and Miami won handily by set scores of 25-12, 25-16 and 25-16.

Senior middle blocker Ali Becker and senior outside hitter Lane Carico once again led the Hurricanes offensively. Becker collected a match-high 15 kills, while Carico was just behind her, finding the hardwood 14 times herself.

Miami only trailed for a total of four service points in the entire match.

In Saturday night’s contest, the Hurricanes exhibited a team effort against Wake Forest.

Miami had five players with double-digit kills in the match, and Carico led the way once again with 16 and outside hitter Christine Williamson had 14. Becker, redshirt freshman Emani Sims and sophomore Alex Johnson had 10 kills each. Senior setter Katie Gallagher also put up impressive numbers, coming away with 52 assists and 11 digs in the match. Miami won by set scores of 22-25, 25-16, 25-23 and 25-17.

It was the second time this season that the Hurricanes beat Duke and Wake Forest in the same weekend.

Miami will hit the road again at the end of this week to take on Georgia Tech and Clemson. The Yellow Jackets, a team that has been a thorn in Miami’s side over the past two seasons, defeated the Hurricanes 3-1 earlier this year.

The Hurricanes have lost their past three matches to Georgia Tech, and if head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch’s squad plans to beat the Ramblin’ Wreck, they will have to shut down Monique Meade. Tech’s outside hitter recorded 19 kills the last time the two teams met in the middle of October.

The contest against Georgia Tech is on Friday night, while the match against Clemson will take place on Saturday. Miami will then return to Coral Gables and play its regular season home finale against Florida State at the Knight Sports Complex on Nov. 26.