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University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Miami
Tar Heels Fall In Four At Miami
October 18, 2008 | Volleyball
Oct. 18, 2008
MIAMI - A night after coming back from a 2-1 hole at Florida State the North Carolina volleyball team attempted the same feat Saturday night in Miami but the Tar Heels were unsuccessful as the Hurricanes claimed the 3-1 win (20-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-23). The Tar Heels mounted a late comeback in the fourth set but were unable to climb over the hump as Miami held on for the win despite Christine Vaughen's 14 kills and Courtney Johnston's 13. The Tar Heels will look to rebound Friday when they host Clemson at 5 p.m. in the Smith Center as a lead in to Late Night With Roy.
Carolina came out and took control of the match right away capturing the first set 25-20. The Tar Heels would hit a match-high .286 in the set maintained a lead the majority of the way. The teams went kill for kill in the beginning of the set as neither team could gain an advantage and were tied 7-7. An attack error and back-to-back kills from Suzanne Haydel forced Miami into a timeout, the Tar Heels would lengthen the lead to four before Miami battled back and evened the score at 13-13 and 14-14. A pair of service aces for Miami gave the Hurricanes the lead before the teams traded the kills over the next four points. Consecutive kills by Lauren Prussing and Megan Owens tied the score at 18-18. A kill off the hand of Heather Brooks helped push Carolina in front before a pair of Courtney Johston kills and a Hurricane attack error provided the final 25-20 outcome.
The Tar Heels kept the pressure on into set two scoring seven of the first 12 points to take an early lead. Miami would battle back and tie the score at 12-12 before the teams traded the next four points. The Tar Heels took a 16-14 lead before Miami took advantage of back-to-back Carolina errors to even things up before the final lead change of the set. After taking a 19-16 lead on a pair of Tar Heel attack errors Miami outscored Carolina 6-5 to claim the 25-21 set two win.
Neither team could gain and edge in the opening points of set three but Maria Andersson stepped to the service line and gave Miami a charge. Three kills, a service ace and a Tar Heel later Miami was ahead of Carolina by 14-10 margin. The Tar Heels would pull the deficit to three before the Hurricanes rattled off a 3-0 run to gain control of the third set. The Tar Heels hit .211 in the set and converted 58 percent of their sideout opportunities but it was not enough as Miami took a commanding 2-1 lead on the back of 25-19 win.
The match looked more than over in the beginning of the fourth set as Miami's Cassie Loessberg served Miami to a 5-1 lead forcing UNC into an early timeout. The break did not seem to slow down Loessberg who would serve Miami to an 8-1 lead and essentially the match. Miami would lengthen the lead to eight on three separate occasions the last being at 18-10 before the Tar Heels turned the corner. A service ace by Johnston followed by a kill by Prussing forced Miami into a timeout at 18-12. The teams would trade errors making the score 19-13 in favor of Miami. A kill by Christine Vaughen, a pair of Hurricane errors and a service ace by Kaylie Gibson led to another Miami timeout at 19-17. Carolina would get a pair of kills from Megan Owens and one by Johnston, while Miami picked up a pair of kills making the score 21-20. A block by Heather Brooks and Owens evened things up at 21-21 before Brooks added a kill to cap off Carolina's improbable 12-3 run. A service error and a Miami kill quickly changed the momentum and gave the Hurricanes the lead once again. A kill by Brooks would even things back up at 23-23 before Miami received a pair of kills to put away the set, 25-23 and the match 3-1.
Senior Brianna Eskola led the Tar Heels in digs again with 24 more on the day as Owens also reached the 20-dig mark with an even 20 on the night. Setters Erica Behm and Stephanie Jansma combined for 47 assists on the night with Behm tallying 26 and Jansma 21. The Tar Heels will look to bounce back Friday, Oct. 24 when they host Clemson at 5 p.m. in the Dean E. Smith Center.
