Aug. 30, 2008

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Oxford, Ohio - Miami University closed out the Best Western Sycamore Classic Saturday night with a 3-0 win over Stephen F. Austin. The RedHawks move to 1-2 on the season, while the Ladyjacks fall to 1-2. . At the conclusion of the match, Melissa Zenz and Maria Leahy were each named to the All-Tournament team.

During the match, Zenz became the 11th player in school history to record 1,000 career digs. Needing only seven going in, she recorded 13 and now stands at 1,006 digs in a RedHawk uniform. A transfer from Cincinnati, she has 1,633 total digs in her collegiate career.

Miami got started quickly with kills by Emily Schroder, Cassie Farrell and Hallie Hanks to give them an 8-2 lead. The Ladyjacks went on a 9-3 run to tie the game at 11. Leahy and Schroeder each recorded kills from there as the teams traded points until the score was tied at 15. After Stephen F. Austin took a four point lead at 19-15, the RedHawks took control as Megan Griffin had back-to-back kills, Leahy had two kills and the Ladyjacks made several attack errors, and Miami scored the last 10 points in a row to win the set 25-19.

The second set did not start out as well as the first one for the RedHawks as Stephen F. Austin jumped to an 8-3 lead. After a quick timeout to regroup, Miami went on a 9-3 run of their own by forcing the Ladyjacks into several attack errors. With the score 13-12 RedHawks, Stephen F. Austin committed three more attack errors in a row, which was followed by back to back kills from Schroeder to give Miami an 18-12 lead. That lead would hold through the rest of the set as the RedHawks earned a 25-18 set win.

The third set was tight early on as the two teams battled to a 12-12 tie. Schroeder and Leahy each had multiple kills during that period. After the Ladyjacks moved ahead 14-12, the RedHawk defense strengthened as they forced three services errors in the next four points to go up 16-14. With the score 23-20, the Ladyjacks had one last push as they went on 3-1 run to pull within 24-23, but on match point, Schroeder was able to bury a shot in the middle of the Stephen F. Austin defense for the kill and the win.

Schroeder led the team with 14 kills, Andrea Atteberry had 36 assists, while the two all-tournament members Leahy and Zenz contributed 15 and 13 digs respectively. The team recorded a hitting percentage of .243, while holding Stephen F. Austin to a .116 percentage.

In the middle game of the tournament Saint Louis defeated Stephen F. Austin in three sets (25-22, 25-16, 25-21). Sammi McCloud led the way with 11 kills for the Billikens, while Whitney Roth had 35 assists. Lauren Railey had nine kills for the Ladyjacks. Saint Louis hit .232 as a team for the game, while Stephen F. Austin hit .178.

Miami returns to action next weekend when they travel to Las Vegas, Nev. for the UNLV Tournament. The RedHawks will face Cal-State Fullerton on September 5 at 7:30 p.m. (EDT). On September 6, they will face 13th-ranked Wisconsin at 1:00 p.m. (EDT), before concluding the tournament against the host Rebels at 10:00 p.m. (EDT).

All Tournament Team

MVP - Sammi McCloud - Saint Louis

Whitney Roth - Saint Louis

Bridget Fonke - Saint Louis

Maria Leahy - Miami

Melissa Zenz - Miami

Lauren Railey - Stephen F. Austin

Shelly Swendig - Stephen F. Austin