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University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Georgia Tech
Tar Heels Handle Yellow Jackets
October 26, 2008 | Volleyball
Oct. 26, 2008
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The North Carolina volleyball team capped off a perfect weekend Sunday as the Tar Heels claimed a 3-1 (25-21, 17-25, 25-23, 25-19) win over visiting Georgia Tech (15-6, 7-4 ACC). Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland pushed the Tar Heels into a tie for fourth in the ACC, a game behind the leaders at 8-3, with 11 kills all coming in the final two sets. Brianna Eskola moved into third in the ACC all-time digs standings as she tallied 21 in the win.
Coming off a sweep of ACC leader Clemson on Friday the Tar Heels looked to continue their impressive play Sunday and showed it in the opening set as Carolina took a 1-0 edge in the match with a 25-21 win. The Tar Heels outhit Georgia Tech .250-.206 in the win as the outside hitters combined for nine of the team's 14 kills in the set. Lauren Prussing led the way with five, while Courtney Johnston chipped in three. The teams traded the opening two points before Carolina grabbed control of the set at 12-7 on the back of a serving run by Heather Brooks. The Tar Heels never looked back en route to the 25-21 win.
The second set was a completely different story for the Tar Heels as they hit just .075, while the Yellow Jackets tallied a .325 mark and cruised to a 25-17 win. The set did not start out too bad for the Tar Heels as they held a 9-7 advantage following a Brooks kill and a Georgia Tech attack error. The Yellow Jackets would even things at 11-11 before gaining control of the set. A kill by GT's Callie Miller would be answered by Christine Vaughen before back-to-back errors gave the Yellow Jackets a 13-11 advantage. A kill by Vaughen and another by Suzanne Haydel sandwiched a Georgia Tech kill making the score 14-13 in favor of Georgia Tech before it would score the next seven points taking a 21-13 lead. The deficit would remain eight the rest of the way as Georgia Tech evened the match at one set apiece.
Hanson-Tuntland came on the floor late in set two before establishing her presence in the third set. The Prospect Heights, Ill., native opened the set with a pair of big kills forcing Georgia Tech to keep an eye on her the rest of the match. Georgia Tech would respond to the early outburst by taking a 10-7 lead before Carolina went on a 10-5 run to take a 17-15 lead on another pair of kills from Hanson-Tuntland, along with a kill each by Brooks and Haydel. Georgia Tech would make things interesting by taking a 20-19 lead on one of Talisa Kellogg's five kills in the set. The Carolina outsides would step up from that point as Johnston and Prussing delivered back-to-back kills to force a Georgia Tech timeout and give the Tar Heels a 21-20 lead. An attack error by the Yellow Jackets would precede another Prussing kill before Georgia Tech recorded one of its four blocks in the set following a Callie Miller kill. With Georgia Tech within just a single point (23-22) head coach Joe Sagula used his first timeout prior to Hanson-Tuntland delivering her fifth kill of the set to put Carolina within a point of the 2-1 lead. Another kill by Miller cut the deficit to one again forcing Sagula to burn his final timeout. With Miller serving, Eskola passed a perfect ball to setter Stephanie Jansma who dumped the ball between the surprised Yellow Jackets to give Carolina the 25-23 win.
Georgia Tech would not go quietly in the fourth set as the Yellow Jackets claimed a 10-5 lead forcing Carolina into a very early timeout. Jansma stepped into the set and following the timeout and helped the Tar Heels battle back and pull within two points at 18-17 late in the set. Following a Chrissy DeMichelis kill, Georgia Tech held a 19-17 advantage before committing a pair of errors after another kill off the hand of Vaughen. After Carolina overcame the five-point deficit and took its first lead at 20-19 Georgia Tech called its first timeout of the set but it failed to slow down the Tar Heels who tallied five straight kills to close out the set and the match, 25-19. Hanson-Tuntland tallied six kills in the fourth and final set, including a pair in the final 5-0 run, while Prussing posted a pair and Johnston added her seventh of the match.
With her 21 digs on the afternoon Brianna Eskola moved past Wake Forest's Trina Maso de Moya (1998-2001) for third place on the ACC career digs list with 2,030 for her career. Eskola sits 170 digs shy of the all-time mark of 2,200 held by Virginia Tech's Amanda Cloyd (2004-07) and Duke's Jenny Shull (2004-07). Freshman Erica Behm finished the match with her first double-double of her career with 34 assists to go along with 11 digs.
The Tar Heels will be in action next on Oct. 31 in Chestnut Hill, Mass. when they take on Boston College before closing out the weekend at Maryland on Sunday, Nov. 2.
