University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
MTSU
UNC Sweeps MTSU, Takes Tourney Title
September 1, 2013 | Volleyball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - North Carolina swept host MTSU 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-18) Saturday night to claim the Blue Raider Bash title.
UNC hit a solid .303 for the match while tallying 13.0 total team blocks as the Tar Heels opened the 2013 season with a perfect 3-0 record.
Jovana Bjelica notched 12 kills, five digs and five blocks in Carolina's final game of the weekend, and Paige Neuenfeldt added nine kills and five blocks to help the Tar Heels.
"This was a great weekend for us, and I'm so excited with how we played at the end as well as the beginning," head coach Joe Sagula said. "This team has a lot of potential. I think we're starting to build confidence in how we play. We learned throughout the weekend to win different ways. On Friday against Notre Dame, we won with great serving. Today against San Francisco, we won with some clutch end-of-the-game scoring, and tonight it was our blocking and serving."
"Throughout the weekend, I can't say enough about how well Leigh Andrew and Ece Taner passed for us, and the leadership of Kaitlyn Anderson, Kayla Berringer and Jovana Bejlica helped drive this team."
Andrew, who finished the weekend with 30 kills and 26 digs, was named the Blue Raider Bash MVP, and Berringer (29 kills, eight blocks) and Bjelica (29 kills, nine blocks, 11 digs) were named to the all-tournament team. The trio led UNC in stats, but Sagula emphasized the team effort Carolina showed all weekend.
"There are a few people who were singled out for their performances, but this was such a balanced team effort. Any one of our starters could have been the MVP. From our setters, to our middles, to our outside hitters, and our defense, it's a really good team, and I'm excited to see how far we can go this year."
The Tar Heels came out strong in the opening set, winning 25-18 behind five kills and two blocks by Victoria McPherson. Neuenfeldt added four kills while Carolina limited the Blue Raiders to just a .094 attack percentage.
Bjelica tallied five kills, two blocks and an ace to help UNC take set two 25-16. UNC had set point at 24-13, but MTSU scored three straight before Adkins added one of two kills to finish the set. Carolina had 5.5 team blocks in the second frame, with Berringer and Neuenfeldt each posting three.
The Blue Raiders pushed hard in set three, but UNC secured the sweep with a 25-18 win as Bjelica added another five kills and two more blocks. Carolina hit a strong .385 attack in the final set while recording another 5.5 team blocks, including three from McPherson.
North Carolina heads to Athens, Ohio, next weekend for the Ohio Invitational. The Tar Heels will face Dayton and Ohio on Friday and Cincinnati on Saturday.
Blue Raider Bash
All-Tournament Team
Leigh Andrew, UNC - MVP
Kayla Berringer, UNC
Jovana Bjelica, UNC
Kendall Howard, MTSU
Chelsea Ross, MTSU
Malina Terrell, USF
Toni Alugbue, Notre Dame
