Unbeaten University of Miami volleyball silences top-ranked Texas for signature victory

One slip.

One mishit.

One momentary distraction.

That’s how close the greatest regular-season win in the 33-year history of the Miami Hurricanes volleyball program was from never happening.

Instead, Miami upset the reigning national champion Texas Longhorns in five sets this past Saturday. The Hurricanes lost the first two sets and had match point against them before rallying for a 19-25; 17-25; 26-24; 25-18; 15-11 win.

It’s the first time Miami has ever defeated the No. 1 team in the nation, and the Canes did it before a packed house -- 4,416 fans in Austin who were immediately silenced as soon as the last point was won by Grace Lopez.

How did the Canes react?

“I screamed so long that I almost lost my voice,” said senior setter Alanys Viera, who set Lopez up for the final kill. “I’m pretty sure I fell to the ground. One of my best friends ran to me, and that’s when the doggie pile started.

“But I was just in awe. I really couldn’t believe this was happening. The gym went quiet, and all you could hear was us screaming.”

Miami, unranked last week, is now at No. 20 after improving to 5-0 with all five wins earned away from home.

Credit should be spread all over the Miami roster, starting with coach Jose “Keno” Gandara, who won his 200th career match and has his squad cooking despite losing four starters from last season: setter Savannah Vach; outside hitter Angela Grieve, who transferred to Houston; and middle blockers Abby Casiano and Janice Leao.

The current team’s biggest star is Lopez, a 6-foot-1, lefty-swinging outside hitter who led Miami in kills (20) and digs (15) against Texas.

Lopez had an ACL knee injury while in high school in her native Puerto Rico. She missed eight months, and that scared away numerous colleges.

She then emailed Gandara, who is also from Puerto Rico.

“She was skinny, but she can jump and has a good arm,” Gandara said. “She caught my eye.”

Lopez signed with Miami, and she was supposed to redshirt last season because the Canes had experienced players ahead of her.

But – ironically – the turning point was how well she played last year in a 3-0 loss to top-ranked Wisconsin.

Lopez went on to become a first-team All-ACC player.

Outside hitter is Miami’s deepest position with Lopez as well as 6-0 Dominican native Flormarie Heredia Colon, who had 16 kills against Texas.

Behind those two are Ava Carney, who made the ACC’s All-Freshman team last year with Wake Forest; and Paula Guersching, from Germany.

Miami’s middle blockers are essentially new – 6-4 Dalia Wilson, a Kansas State transfer; and 6-5 Bianka Lulic, who redshirted last season.

The Hurricanes rotate three defensive specialists who are all returners: Naylani Feliciano, Yaidaliz Rosado and Milana Moisio.

Rosado’s claim to fame is that she was the player Gandara was scouting in Puerto Rico when the coach saw Lopez play for the first time.

Setter – the quarterback of any volleyball team – is shared by Ariana Rodriguez and Viera.

Rodriguez is a star. She was the youngest player on the Dominican Republic’s Olympic volleyball team this summer, and she got significant playing time in Paris this past summer as her squad made it to the quarterfinals.

Viera is sort of a backup, but she plays a lot, and she was one of the biggest keys to victory in the win over Texas.

After sitting out the first two sets, Viera was summoned against Texas.

“Down two sets, I knew it was ‘go’ time,” Viera said. “Our energy was low. I wanted to get the middles involved, and I had to get Grace going.”

Viera said there was a benefit to sitting for those first two sets as she was able to see what was missing.

It helps that she has a great relationship with Rodriguez. Miami’s two main setters are constantly letting each other know they see on the court.

Even so, Texas was – as mentioned above – one play away from sweeping the match.

Indeed, the Longhorns were serving with a 24-23 lead in the third set. But the Canes, with nerves of steel, got a kill from Heredia Colon to tie the score. Lopez then served an ace for a 25-24 lead, and Rodriguez got a block to give Miami the set.

That changed the momentum, and Miami kept rolling. The Hurricanes finished with 11 blocks despite not having any in the first two sets.

Viera said she was so locked in she often didn’t know the score.

“In the final set, from point 10 to point 15, I don’t think I cheered that much,” Viera said. “I was just, ‘Next point, next point.’”

That’s how it went until there were no more points to be won … and the only thing left for the Hurricanes players was to yell until they had no voice left.