North Carolina
10-7, 7-2ACC
NC State
13-7, 8-1ACC
North Carolina Knocks Off NC State in Four Sets
October 18, 2017 | Volleyball
CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina finished out a perfect 5-0 homestand on Wednesday night, handing NC State its first ACC loss of the season with a 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-14, 25-22) victory. Junior Taylor Leath propelled the Tar Heels to victory, hitting .442 with 25 kills to help Carolina register its third consecutive match hitting above .300.
"I'll just say this is a really great match by this team," said head coach Joe Sagula. "To beat a team that was undefeated (in the ACC), to hold State to .148 hitting—that's the lowest they've hit all year. They were playing really good volleyball. They're on a roll. We played a great first set. That was very rewarding, to see us get off to a good start."
Leath posted her fifth career 20-kill match on Wednesday night, tallying more than twice the kills of any other player on the court.
"She started the first set with two kills and one error and then she just picked it up," said Sagula. "We've been working on different shots. I'm just really happy how she's been so open to learning and doing new things in the last two matches. Different angles, hitting sharp cross-court, more line than we've hit before. And if she's doing it, then it makes her a good role model for everybody else."
Taylor Borup and Taylor Fricano followed with eight kills, while Holly Carlton had seven and Beth Nordhorn chipped in six.
Carlton and Kendra Koetter split the assists with 24 apiece, while libero Casey Jacobs added six.
Jacobs led the Tar Heels with 19 digs from the back row, while Greer Moseman tallied 11 and Carlton recorded a double-double with 10.
Carolina won the serve and pass battle, landing seven aces, including two each by Moseman and Carlton.
"I thought Casey played great for us tonight," said Sagula. "She really solidified our passing a lot. Obviously, Greer did a great job getting us started with great serving in the first set. I thought the first and the third and the end of the fourth set we served great. Holly's serving was great, put a lot of pressure on them. We put so much pressure on them and got them out of system quite a bit. I think that was the difference."
Katharine Esterley led UNC at the net with five of the team's 10.0 blocks, and Nordhron added four. Leath, Fricano and Sydnye Fields each stuffed three.
North Carolina opened the match with a 6-0 run including back-to-back aces by Moseman. NC State scored four after a timeout, but a Carlton ace and two Leath kills made it 10-5. State once again pulled back within two, 16-14, on a pair of kills, but that was as close as the Wolfpack would get, as Jacobs finished off the opener, 25-20, with an ace.
NC State raced out to a 5-1 lead to open the second set. Carolina cut the deficit to one, 5-4, then tied the score at nine on a Carlton-Esterley block. Both teams traded points until a 3-0 run put State back on top 18-15. The Tar Heels did not back down, re-tying the score at 20, but three straight by State made it 23-20, and a kill by Bree Bailey, her sixth of the set, evened the match with a 25-22 decision in the second.
The Wolfpack won the first two points of the third set, but Carolina replied with a six-point run served out by Jacobs to take a quick 6-2 lead. The Tar Heels continued to cruise, and back-to-back kills by Fricano made it 16-7. A kill by Nordhorn made it set point, and an attack out of bounds ended the frame, 25-14. UNC outhit NC State .412 to .000 in the stanza, limiting the Wolfpack to just six kills.
Carolina opened up an 8-3 lead to start the fourth, but NC State fought back to win seven straight and take a 10-8 lead. The Wolfpack stretched the advantage to 15-10, but Carolina clawed its way back with a 12-2 run to take a 22-17 lead. A block by Esterley and Fields made it match point, but NC State did not back down. The Wolfpack wiped off four straight attempts to cut the lead to two, but Fields had the final say, finding a hole for a kill to win the fourth set, 25-22, and take the match in four sets.
After two-and-a-half weeks at home, the Tar Heels hit the road this weekend for three tough road matches. The trip begins on Friday, Oct. 20, with a visit to Pittsburgh (15-4, 8-0 ACC). After Carolina's victory tonight, the Panthers are now the lone team in the ACC to remain undefeated in conference play. Friday's match begins at 7 p.m. and will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
