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University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Pepperdine
Carolina Falls To No. 15 Seed Pepperdine
December 3, 2011 | Volleyball
Dec. 3, 2011
Press Conference(mp3)
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MALIBU, Calif. - North Carolina fell, 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-22) to the No. 15 overall national seed Pepperdine (24-6) in the second round of the NCAA tournament at Firestone Fieldhouse. Junior outside hitter Emily McGee compiled 18 kills, bringing her career total to 1,004, and sophomore Kayla Berringer pitched in 17 kills. The Tar Heels finish the year at 24-9, the 11th 20-win season under Joe Sagula's tutelage.
"I thought it was the tale of two different teams for us," said Sagula. "I felt like our passing game was really off in the first two games, and our blocking and defense wasn't as strong as it needed to be. I was proud of how we picked it up and fought in game three, but it was difficult. We hit .299, but Pepperdine hit .398, so it's hard to say much defense was being played on either side.
"But overall, I am very proud of how we fought. Pepperdine is a strong program and a very good team but we didn't shy away from the challenge."
Pepperdine hit .448 in the opening set, racing out to a five-point lead (12-7), capped by a kill from Kim Hill. The Waves went ahead by as many as six at 21-15, before the Tar Heels rallied to trim the deficit to three (23-20), following back-to-back kills by Emily McGee. Pepperdine took the next two scores, closing out set one (25-20) on a Carolina attack error. McGee registered seven kills in set one on a .667 attack efficiency and Kaylie Gibson added five digs.
The second frame was tight throughout, featuring 14 tie scores and four lead changes. Carolina took its first lead of the match (9-8) on a kill by Kayla Berringer and later increased its advantage to two (13-11) with another Berringer kill. Pepperdine answered with three straight points to retake the lead (14-13), following a kill by Katie Messing. The Waves began to pull away at 16-16, going ahead by as many as four (20-16), before taking set two (25-22) on a kill by Messing.
The Waves went up by five (7-2) to begin the third set and led for most of the frame. Trailing by three (19-16), UNC forged a 4-0 run, highlighted by three kills from McGee to pull ahead by one (20-19). The Naperville, Ill., native tallied her 1,000th kill to during the spurt on an assist from Erica Behm. Pepperdine responded with a 6-3 run to close out the set, winning set and match point (25-22) on a Tar Heel attack error.
The Tar Heels finish their 2011 campaign with 24 victories and have advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament three out of the last four years.
