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University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Clemson
Tar Heels Sweep Tigers
October 24, 2008 | Volleyball
Oct. 24, 2008
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Eleven kills from Suzanne Haydel and another 11 from Lauren Prussing helped the Tar Heels to a 3-0 sweep (25-22, 25-19, 25-21) of visiting Clemson (15-6, 7-3 ACC) Friday evening in the Dean Smith Center in front of a season-high crowd of 13,797. The Tar Heels turned in their top performance of the season hitting a season-best .327 in the win en route to improving to 12-9 overall and 6-4 in ACC play. Carolina will look to keep rolling on Sunday when it hosts Georgia Tech at 1 p.m. in the Smith Center.
The Tar Heels and Tigers felt each other out in the early going as Clemson jumped out to a 6-2 lead before Carolina scored four straight points to even the score at 6-6. Clemson would answer right back and garner an 11-9 lead on its lone block of the set before Carolina stepped up once again. A kill by Heather Brooks, a service ace from Suzanne Haydel led to a kill from Courtney Johnston making the score 12-11 in favor of Carolina. A Clemson error made the score 13-11 leading to a Tiger timeout which did not seem to slow down the Tar Heels as they extended their lead to 19-14, their largest of the set before closing out the set at 25-22. The set was far from a defensive struggle for either team as Carolina outhit Clemson by a .355-.324 margin but the Tar Heels committed only two errors to take a 1-0 lead.
Carolina's defense stepped up in the second set holding the Tigers to a .175 hitting percentage, while hitting in the .300s for the second straight set picking up 16 kills with with a mark of .308. Carolina did not trail in the set and were only tied on three occasions thanks in large part to Johnston who tallied five kills with no errors, while Prussing, Haydel and Christine Vaughen all posted three kills apiece. Carolina opened with a 9-5 run forcing Clemson into a timeout before extending its lead to 17-9 as the Tar Heels failed to commit an error and delivered seven kills over the stretch prior to Clemson calling its final timeout. The Tigers would pull within five (23-18) before Carolina took a 2-0 lead into the break with the 25-19 win.
Another strong offensive outburst by Lauren Prussing propelled the Tar Heels to the 3-0 win and the first sweep of Clemson since 2005. Prussing tallied six kills on just eight attempts with no errors in the final set as Carolina scored 13 of the first 16 points and took a commanding 13-3 lead. The Tar Heels would stretch that lead to 18-7 with a kill from Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland before Clemson decided to make things interesting. A 10-4 run by the Tigers would pull the deficit to just one point with Carolina in front 21-20. Haydel stepped up for Carolina delivering her 11th kill of the night before back-to-back Clemson errors put the Tar Heels within a point of the win at 24-20. A Tar Heel error would keep Clemson alive before Johnston finished off an impressive win with a kill off of Erica Behm's 36th assist of the night.
Freshman Kaylie Gibson helped pace a solid defensive effort by the Tar Heels with a team-high 11 digs, while senior libero Brianna Eskola moved within one dig of third place on the all-time digs list. Eskola will enter Sunday's match with 2,009 in her four-year career one shy of third place and 191 shy of the all-time record. All three outside hitters for the Tar Heels hit over .300 on the night with Prussing leading the way at .385 with 11 kills, Haydel added 11 of her own with a .320 mark, while Johnston finished at an even .300 with nine kills.
