University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Syracuse
#11 UNC Tops Syracuse 3-0, Improving To 14-0, 3-0 In ACC
October 5, 2013 | Volleyball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The No. 11 Tar Heels swept Syracuse 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-15) on Friday night, improving to 14-0 on the season, 3-0 in the ACC, to continue the team's best start in program history.
Jovana Bjelica led UNC with 14 kills and three service aces, while Kayla Berringer and Leigh Andrew followed her with eight and six kills, respectively. Andrew also tallied 10 digs in the match.
"Playing at Syracuse was new and a concern for us, so becoming familiar with the gym and environment was a new experience," head coach Joe Sagula said. "We prepared well and handled a good attack and blocking by the Orange. Our defense struggled early but our offense carried the load and then we scored well from the service line."
"Jovana Bjelica had a great match both hitting and serving. Hayley McCorkle started her first full match and played well hitting .800 and blocking well in all three sets," Sagula added. "Our overall game improved in each set tonight as we settled into our rhythm and began to be more effective on defense and play our game. We are happy to get our first ACC road win of the season."
The Tar Heels got hold of the lead early in the first set, and although Syracuse threatened at times, they never let the Orange within two points. Behind strong performances from Berringer, during which she posted five of her kills, UNC took the set 25-21.
Syracuse came out strong in the second set, taking an early 5-4 lead on the Tar Heels, while UNC struggled to swing the momentum their way until the middle of the set.
Kills from Bjelica and Paige Neuenfeldt, followed by two service aces from Abigail Curry gave the Tar Heels a 19-16 lead, their first of the set, and they never looked back. UNC took the second set 25-20.
In the third set the Tar Heels once again started out cold, going down early to Syracuse before finishing off the match in dominating fashion with a 25-15 victory to sweep the Orange, 3-0.
UNC will continue its northern road trip on Sunday with a trip to Boston College. The match is set to start at 12 p.m.
