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University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Saint Louis
Tar Heels Sweep Billikens
September 17, 2011 | Volleyball
Sept. 17, 2011
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina defeated St. Louis 3-0 (29-27, 25-21, 25-12) to conclude the 2011 Tar Heel Classic from Carmichael Arena. Emily McGee paced the Tar Heels with 17 kills on a .359 attack percentage and Erica Behm added 25 assists. Aleksandra Georgieva piloted the defense with 11 digs.
The opening set featured 16 tie scores and nine lead changes. St. Louis led early in the opening set, 8-6, after the Billikens' Andrea Beaty unleashed a kill off an assist from Alyssa Deno. The Tar Heels countered with a 5-1 spurt capped by a kill from Erica Behm to go up 11-9. With the score tied at 16 apiece later in the frame, UNC pulled ahead 19-16 on block assists by Gaffen and Behm and then Gaffen and McGee, followed by a Billiken attack error. St. Louis evened the count again at 22-all on a service ace by Grace Bonoma. The Tar Heels and Billikens exchanged points the rest of the way until Kaitlyn Anderson assisted McGee on back-to-back kills to capture set one in extra points 29-27.
The Tar Heels jumped out to a 9-5 advantage in the second stanza with Kayla Berringer and McGee combining for six kills in the early going. McGee cranked two more kills, both assisted by Behm, to extend the Carolina lead to 11-5, forcing the Billikens to call timeout. St. Louis rallied to erase the six-point deficit, squaring the score at 16-all on a kill by Carly Marcum. UNC won eight of the next 10 points to go ahead 24-18 and later closed out set two on a kill by McGee. The junior outside hitter was in the zone, tallying 12 of North Carolina's first 24 kills.
UNC went up early again in the third frame 9-5 and extended its lead out of a Billiken timeout to 14-7 on an unassisted kill by Chaniel Nelson. St. Louis again called timeout, trailing 18-10 after Kaylie Gibson assisted Berringer on a kill. Carolina closed out the match on a 7-2 string to win the third set 25-12.
Carolina hits the road for its conference opener against Maryland Sept. 23, at 7 p.m. The match against the Terrapins will be televised on the ACC Network.
