University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Clemson
North Carolina Defeats Clemson In ACC Opener
September 23, 2003 | Volleyball
Sept. 23, 2003
Chapel Hill, N.C. - North Carolina defeated Clemson 3-1 in an exciting opening game in the ACC season. The Tar Heels won 30-27, 27-30, 30-19, 30-28.
Sophomore outside hitter Dani Nyenhuis led the charge with a career-high 21 kills and ten digs. Junior outside hitter Molly Pyles had 17 kills and twelve digs, while junior middle hitter Katie Wright had 13 kills and two block solos.
"I liked the fact that the game got tight and we were able to pull it out in the end," said head coach Joe Sagula. "Overall i thought we played with intensity. We need to continue to mature as a team and learn how to put teams away. That is partly becuase we are just young, but we know we will get better at it."
Other Tar Heels that helped the team win included junior libero Caroline deRoeck, freshman outside hitter Meg Eckert and senior middle hitter Aletha Green. deRoeck had a team-high 16 digs and Eckert had seven kills and fifteen digs. Green chipped in with eight kills, three blocks and a .375 hitting percentage.
The two setters on the team also played well. Junior setter Norma Cortez had 27 assists and three service aces, while sophomore setter McKenzie Byrd had 30 assists and five digs.
UNC started off the match with energy and determination, as they won the first game 30-27. After being up by as much as seven points in the second game, the Tar Heels faded and lost the game 27-30. But the team blasted back in the third game and easily won 30-19 before wrapping up the match with a close fourth game win, 30-28. Wright scored the final point with a kill, sending the Carmichael Auditorium crowd into a frenzy.
The team had great balance in the match especially at the end, when Camilla Ihenetu came off the bench and gave the Tar Heels a much needed lift. Ihenetu had two kills at the end of the fourth game to help UNC to the conference game victory.
"We need to learn match to match how to play, but i am really proud the way we played tonight," said Sagula. "Some real good things happened. Individuals stepped up, people came off the bench and did some good things. i was really happy about that."
"Meg Eckert came in and gave us some key kills. Camilla Ihenetu had a couple of key kills and gave us some great, aggressive serving, something we needed in that fourth game."
UNC improves to 9-4 on the season and will host two matches this weekend as they face Florida State and fifth-ranked Georgia Tech in Carmichael. The Florida State game starts at 3 p.m. on Saturday and the Georgia Tech game is at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
