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University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Michigan State
Heels Fall To Spartans 3-2
August 29, 2009 | Volleyball
Aug. 29, 2009
EAST LANSING, MICH. - North Carolina dropped a tough game to Michigan State in their final match of the MSU Showcase 3-2. Both Courtney Johnston (12) and Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland (16) were one shy of their career kills. Suzanne Haydel added 13 kills for the Heels, who hit .288 on the night with 63 kills. Carolina falls to 1-2 on the year as the Spartans improve to 3-0.
Senior Heather Brooks was named to the All-Tournament Team, posting nine kills and four blocks in the loss to Michigan State. Setters Cora Harms and Erica Behm added 29 and 22 assists respectively. The Tar Heels hit a lowly .050 percentage in the fifth frame as the Spartans claimed the final set and match 15-12.
In the opening set, Michigan State jumped on Carolina from the start claiming a 7-3 lead with a pair of serve aces. Suzanne Haydel and Courtney Johnston led the Tar Heel attack registering a pair of powerful kills early. Seniors Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland and Branagan Fuller added a couple kills to keep the Tar Heels close. The Spartans continued to dominate the pace with a couple blocks to stretch the led to 12-7. The Tar Heels continued to fight back, but another Spartan block pushed MSU in front 17-10 leading to a Carolina timeout. The Spartans took the first set 25-16 behind a .625 hitting percentage and 17 kills.
The second set proved more competitive as Aleksandra Georgieva replaced Kaylie Gibson at libero as the Tar Heels jumped out to an early 5-3 lead. Carolina stretched the lead to 10-6 behind two Hanson-Tuntland and Haydel kills prompting a Spartan timeout. Carolina continued its strong play in set two with a Johnston kill and Brooks block to put the Heels in front 14-8. The Spartans responded with a 4-1 run to cut the Carolina lead to 15-12 and issuing a timely Joe Sagula timeout. Carolina came out of the break strong going on a 5-1 capped off by a Heather Henry block assist to put the Heels in front 20-13 before a Spartan timeout. Michigan State went on a 4-1 run to cut the Heels' lead to 21-17. Carolina claimed the second set behind a pair of Heather Brooks kills 25-18. The Heels held the Spartans to only a .160 hitting percentage in the second frame while posting a .324 percentage and 12 kills to win the set.
Carolina and Michigan State continued a great battle in the third set. Both teams went back in forth before the Heels claimed the lead at 9-8 behind a Branagan Fuller kill. The Tar Heels built a 3-0 run before a nicely placed tip by the Spartans to cut the lead to 11-9. Carolina continued to stretch their lead with four more points to put the Heels in front 15-11 before a Spartan timeout. A second scoreboard outage halted play in the third after Cora Harms flew into the scores table to save a play as the Heels were up 18-16.
A perfectly placed Suzanne Haydel tip put the Heels in front 21-17 before a Michigan State timeout. The Spartans stormed back to cut the lead to three at 23-20 before a Carolina timeout, then one to prompt another Sagula timeout at 23-22. A serve ace by the Spartans put them in front 25-24 before a Fuller kill tied the match at 25. A blocking and kill error by the Spartans allowed the Tar Heels to take the set 27-25. Carolina continued to hit at a high percentage (.324) with 16 kills while holding the Spartans to a .184 percentage in the third frame.
Carolina continued its strong play in the fourth set jumping out to a quick 8-4 lead behind a couple Branagan Fuller and Courtney Johnston kills. Carolina came up with some huge blocks early in the fourth to claim a 10-6 lead before a Spartan timeout. The Spartans battled back to cut the Tar Heel lead to 13-12 with a serve ace. Courtney Johnston placed a nice tip to push the Heels lead to 17-15 before a Spartan kill and Carolina timeout at 17-16. Michigan State pushed in front 20-19 behind an unbelievable dig from libero Allyson Karaba, but a Hanson-Tuntland tip tied the set at 20. The Spartans and the Tar Heels continued to battle back and forth before the Spartans were able to win the set 25-22 hitting .469 in the fourth set with 20 kills.
The Tar Heels and Spartans finished a long battle in the fifth and final set. The Tar Heels were behind 8-7 at the halfway point, but a huge Haydel block and Brooks kill put the Heels in front 9-8. The Spartans quickly responded with two big blocks and took the lead 11-9 before a Carolina timeout. The Spartans then claimed the match winning the final set 15-12.
The meeting was the third ever between the Tar Heels and the Spartans. In the last meeting, Carolina fell to MSU in three sets in the South Carolina Classic Sept. 6, 2003. The Tar Heels will travel to Wichita, Kansas next weekend to face Oklahoma, Grambling State and host Wichita State in the Best Western Shocker Classic. Follow tarheelblue.com for more North Carolina volleyball updates.
