Oct. 6, 2007

Box Score

OXFORD, Ohio - A season-high .354 hitting percentage led Miami University's volleyball team to a three-game sweep over Akron in Mid-American Conference play on Saturday afternoon. Miami (8-7; 5-1 MAC) finished off its third consecutive three-game sweep and moved its winning streak to five matches. Akron (9-10; 1-5 MAC) dropped its third consecutive MAC contest.

Service aces by senior middle hitter Carli Reihman and junior outside hitter Alex Ratcliff paced the RedHawks to a three-point lead, 5-2, in game one. Akron closed to within one point, 8-7, but a kill and a service ace by Reihman pushed Miami to a 13-8 lead. Holding a four-point lead, 14-10, a kill by sophomore middle hitter Hallie Hanks and a tip kill by sophomore setter Andrea Atteberry, extended Miami's lead to seven points, 17-10. Akron closed to within three points, 21-18, forcing the RedHawks to call a timeout, but Miami responded with a five-point spurt, extending its lead to 26-19. A kill by Reihman gave Miami a 30-25 game-one win.

Kills from five different RedHawks' gave Miami a balanced attack early in game two, as the Red and White took an 11-4 lead. Akron closed to within three points on six different occasions, with the last coming at 23-20. From that point, four kills by sophomore middle hitter Megan Griffin, including three consecutive kills, ignited a RedHawks' spurt as Miami took seven of the next eight points to win game two, 30-21. Griffin collected eight kills in game two, while hitting at a .571 clip.

Miami looked determined to end the match in three games as strong serving by Atteberry forced three Akron errors en route to a 5-0 lead in game three. With its five-point lead still in tact, 10-5, kills by Ratcliff and Reihman helped Miami take a 14-5 lead. The RedHawks continued their strong play for the rest of the game and a kill by Ratcliff gave the RedHawks a 30-17 game-three win.

As a team, the RedHawks hit a season-high .354, while Reihman and Griffin hit .652 and .519, respectively. Reihman tallied a team-best 16 kills followed by Griffin's 14 kills.

Brionna Patterson led the Zips with 11 kills.

The RedHawks continue their four-match home stand as Miami welcomes Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan to Millett Hall, Oct. 12-13, for homecoming weekend. Miami plays Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. on Oct. 12 and concludes its weekend with a 5:30 p.m. tilt versus Central Michigan.

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