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Carolina Takes Down NC State
October 14, 2008 | Volleyball
Oct. 14, 2008
RALEIGH, N.C. - The North Carolina volleyball team improved to 10-8 on the year and moved into a fourth place tie in the Atlantic Coast Conference at 4-3 with a 3-1 (25-14, 25-16, 23-25, 25-16) win in Raleigh over NC State. Lauren Prussing and Suzanne Haydel did the most damage for Carolina as Prussing finished the night with 16 kills, while Haydel added 15 of her own to go along with 18 digs in the win. The Tar Heels will now make a weekend trip to Florida to take on Florida State Friday night before finishing out the trip in Miami against the Hurricanes on Saturday.
The Tar Heels cruised in the opening set with a 25-14 win as the setting duo of Erica Behm and Stephanie Jansma dished out six assists apiece. Heather Brooks led the attack with five kills from her middle blocker position on just seven attempts. The combination of Suzanne Haydel and Lauren Prussing chipped in three kills as well. The teams traded the opening 10 points before Carolina pulled away with a 6-2 run to garner an 11-7 lead. A 5-0 run that featured a service ace from Courtney Johnston along with kills from Behm and Prussing helped Carolina pull away even further at 17-10. Carolina picked up some more solid serving from Brianna Eskola as the senior helped the Tar Heels to a 22-13 advantage before sealing the deal at 25-14 on back-to-back kills from Johnston and Haydel. The Tar Heels held NC State in check as the Wolfpack hit -.023 in the opening set.
Prussing led the way in set two as she delivered six kills in her 12 attempts, while the Behm posted a team-high 10 assists with Jansma adding four of her own. Brooks and Haydel kept pace with Prussing as Brooks tallied four kills and Haydel finished the set with two in the 25-16 win. NC State hung around with the Tar Heels a little bit in the second set as the two teams battled to a 6-6 tie early on. A three-point swing in favor of Carolina put the lead and the momentum on the Tar Heels' side as Carolina propelled to a 17-10 advantage on a series of solid serves from senior Kelly Davies. Carolina would lengthen its lead to nine on two separate occasions before closing out the set with a 25-16 win and going ahead in the match 2-0.
Carolina looked to close out the match in three sets but fell into a late hole and were never able to even things up despite a furious comeback late in the set as NC State went on to pull the match to 2-1 with a 25-23 win. Carolina took a 10-7 lead on one of Haydel's four kills in the set before the Wolfpack battled to even things up at 11-11. Things would stay that way until 14-14 when NC State scored three straight in a 6-1 run en route to a 20-15 advantage. A Wolfpack kill would later make the score 24-20 closing within one point of the win before Joe Sagula called his final timeout of the set. The Tar Heels responded with three straight points, two NC State attack errors and a Christine Vaughen kill, to make the score 24-23 and force a Wolfpack timeout. A kill by Margaret Salata would be the difference as NC State took the set 25-23 to force a fourth set.
The Tar Heels took advantage of their second opportunity to close out the match in impressive fashion as Carolina cruised to another 25-16 win. Prussing and Haydel added five kills apiece to their totals. NC State continued the momentum from the set three win into set four and took an early 11-7 lead. Carolina would storm back to tie things up at 14-14 before going on a match-sealing 6-0 run that featured three consecutive kills from Haydel as Carolina took a 20-14 lead. The Wolfpack would score just two more points the rest of the way as the Tar Heels sealed their 21st straight win over NC State in school history.
Prussing and Haydel led the Tar Heel attack as the senior, Prussing, tallied 16 kills on the night and Haydel finished one off her pace with 15 of her own. Middle Blocker Heather Brooks tallied 12 kills of her own, while hitting an impressive .542 in the win. Behm finished the night with 38 assists in the four sets. Senior libero tallied her second straight 30 dig night with 33 in the win, setting a season-high. Haydel made it three straight double-doubles by chipping in 18 digs on the night, while freshman defensive specialist Kayle Gibson finished with 13 in the win.
