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University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
16-8, 13-2ACC
Pittsburgh
20-7, 10-5ACC
No. 25 Carolina Sweeps Pitt For Eighth Straight Victory
November 14, 2015 | Volleyball
CHAPEL HILL – No. 25 North Carolina volleyball opened its final homestand in style, racing to a 3-0 (28-26, 25-20, 25-21) victory over the University of Pittsburgh on Friday night. The win marked the Tar Heels' eighth straight, as UNC improved to 16-8 on the season and remains just one game out of first place in the ACC with a 13-2 conference record. With the loss, the Panthers drop to 20-7 (10-5 ACC).
“This was a huge match to beat a team this good, 3-0,” said Sagula. “We're finding different ways to win, and tonight was about defense. We had 11 blocks, which was great. I can't believe how efficiently we hit, that was amazing. It didn't feel that way early, but they came through. We have young people like Taylor Leath who did a great job keeping us in the game, Taylor Fricano, Taylor Treacy, I'm just startled by these numbers, which is awesome.”
“I think it's a huge win for us in a very difficult match to play,” said redshirt freshman Taylor Leath, who had five kills and two blocks in the match. “We executed the game plan. Kadi Kullerkann is a great hitter, a phenomenal hitter, and I think that was one of our main focuses in practice, and we were able to execute. It's just a great win, setting us up for NCAAs.”
Senior Leigh Andrew posted her fifth straight double-double with a team-high 11 kills and 12 digs, while classmate Victoria McPherson and right side hitter Taylor Treacy combined for 19 kills without an error, both hitting at least .400.
Senior defensive specialist Heather Gearhart led the back row with a career-high 14 digs in the match, playing clutch defense on Pitt's leading hitter Kadi Kullerkann. Libero Sheila Doyle was the third Tar Heel in double digits, posting 13 digs to go with six assists.
“I told the team that we won this by playing great, great defense tonight,” said Sagula. “The one we tactically prepared ourselves for was Heather Gearhart to dig against Kadi Kullerkann, who is their big hitter, and she did a really good job just giving us some defensive transition. We needed her to do that. The pleasant surprise was the couple of digs at the end from Paige and Abbey.”
“I thought our defense stepped up big time, and it was a huge defensive game for us,” said Gearhart. “We knew that going in. They have some pretty good hitters on the other team, and we had a really good game plan that we needed to execute. And I thought we picked it up defensively throughout the match.”
Paige Neuenfeldt led the Tar Heels at the net with six of the team's 11 blocks, while McPherson assisted on the other five. After tonight's performance, Neuenfeldt now has 461 career block assists, just three shy of the all-time Carolina record.
Abigail Curry set new career highs with three blocks and four kills, hitting .500. The junior setter turned in a match-best 33 assists while setting up the Tar Heel offense to hit .306 against a team that entered the night holding ACC opponents to an average of .231
“I can't believe we hit .306 against a really good team; that's amazing,” said head coach Joe Sagula. “Leath played a great match for us. Taylor Fricano, I told her – we just need you to come in at one or two points to give us momentum and she did exactly what we needed.”
Pittsburgh took control of the first set early, racing out to an 8-2 lead behind a strong opening service run by Mariah Bell. A solid run served out by Tatiana Durr cut the deficit to two, 9-7, but Pitt pushed right back in front, 13-8. The Tar Heels continued to battle, and kills by McPherson and Curry tied the score at 19. A kill by Kelsey O'Neill put Pitt back on top, but consecutive kills by McPherson and Neuenfeldt gave UNC its first lead of the night, 23-22. Both teams continued to trade points, as the Panthers erased three consecutive set points, but a kill by Treacy gave Carolina a fourth try, 27-26, and McPherson slammed an overpass to take the first set, 28-26.
Carolina took the early lead in the second set, pulling ahead 8-3 on a block by Leath and Neuenfeldt. The Tar Heels extended their lead to 15-9, but three straight kills and a block by Kadi Kullerkann cut UNC's lead to one, 15-14. Curry snuck an attack over on two to keep Pitt from tying the score, and an ace by Andrew helped Carolina run back ahead, 18-14. Amanda Orchard struck a kill to get Pitt to 20, but Treacy followed with back-to-back kills to win the second set, 25-20.
The Tar Heels began the third set with a 4-1 lead, but a strong service run by Kamalani Akeo turned the tables for the Panthers, as they ran up an 8-5 advantage. A block by Treacy and Neuenfeldt tied the score at 10, but a pair of kills by Bell put Pittsburgh right back in front, 14-10. The Tar Heels battled back to within one, 15-14, on a kill by McPherson, but were still unable to take the lead until back-to-back blocks by Neuenfeldt made it 18-17 UNC. A kill by O'Neill knotted the score at 20, but Carolina executed down the stretch to win five of the last six points and complete the sweep, 25-21.
Carolina continues its homestand on Saturday, Nov. 14, by hosting Virginia Tech on Senior Night. The Tar Heels will honor seniors Leigh Andrew, Heather Gearhart, Victoria McPherson, Kody Michal, Paige Neuenfeldt and Jordyn Schnabl prior to the 7:30 p.m. first serve.
