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University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Rice
Seniors Fuel 3-1 Victory Over Rice
September 11, 2010 | Volleyball
Sept. 11, 2010
ATON ROUGE, LA. -- The senior trio of Suzanne Haydel, Courtney Johnston and Christine Vaughen combined for 35 kills to propel North Carolina over Rice 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-16) in UNC's third match of the LSU Tiger Classic Saturday night from the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Carolina improves to 6-4 on the young 2010 season.
Johnston led the UNC attack with 13 kills, while classmates Johnston added 12 and Haydel chipped in 10. Both Johnston and Haydel also posted double-digit digs good for their first double-doubles of the season. Cora Harms registered a season-best 35 assists and Shelbey Bleke added eight kills and a career-best seven block assists.
"We had two unbelievable comebacks in this match, the first one slipped away in the first set," exclaimed head coach Joe Sagula. "The comeback in the third set will be significant for not only this match, but for the entire season. It was a huge confidence boost to come from six down and win the set. I think we learned a lot about ourselves this weekend and can use these experience for the entire season."
UNC's late rally fell short in the first frame, falling 25-23 to Rice. Carolina trailed by as many as eight, but rallied from a 21-14 deficit to cut the Owl lead to one at 24-23. Johnston notched four kills to no errors to lead the Tar Heel attack, but Carolina suffered from eight attack errors.
The Tar Heels carried their momentum into the second frame to claim the set 25-19. UNC out-blocked the Owls holding Rice to just a .104 hitting percentage. Middles Vaughen and Bleke combined for eight kills and four blocks to lead the Tar Heels. The first two frames were extremely competitive featuring 10 tie scores and four lead changes.
Carolina manufactured a 6-0 run out of a key timeout to rally past Rice 25-23 and win set three. A big block from Johnston and Vaughen fueled the rally to slice the Owl lead to two at 23-21. A Johnston and Haydel kill later and the Tar Heels pushed in front for the first time in the frame since 8-7. Carolina uncorked a match-best .306 hitting percentage in the third set, in what proved to be a pivotal point in the match.
Carolina registered a match-best 76% sideout percentage to claim the fourth frame 25-16 and match 3-1. Carolina forced six Owl attack errors and held Rice to just a .125 hitting percentage in the final set. Rice suffered from five serve errors.
The Tar Heels will be back in action next weekend hosting their second home non-conference tournament, the Tar Heel Classic, against Ball State, Temple and Appalachian State from Sept. 17-18 at Carmichael Arena.
