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University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
18-8, 15-2ACC
NC State
15-14, 4-13ACC
Tar Heels Close Home Season With 10th Straight Win
November 19, 2015 | Volleyball
CHAPEL HILL – The North Carolina Tar Heels extended their winning streak to 10 in a row on Wednesday night with a 3-1 (25-19, 25-18, 20-25, 25-14) victory over NC State. The four-set win was their seventh consecutive against the crosstown rival, as Carolina improves to 18-8 (15-2 ACC) while State falls to 15-14 (4-13 ACC).
“I think any time you're playing a rival school it's important, but the fact that it was the last match at Carmichael made it emotional,” said head coach Joe Sagula. “It was the last match for the seniors, and we had a good fan base tonight too, so it's never business as usual. We prepared well for NC State, because we know they're playing well. They run a really good slide and we had a tough time stopping their right side attack, but I thought we did enough to do well.”
Senior Leigh Andrew exceled in her last scheduled match at Carmichael Arena, hitting .417 with a match-high 15 kills and no errors, including taking the final swing of the night.
“I thought Leigh was great,” said classmate Paige Neuenfeldt. “She was very consistent and not making errors. She was just putting the ball in play and NC State was having a hard time defending her. Leigh has been a solid rock for us – her passing is consistent, she served great, and I think she blocked really well on the slide. She definitely helped with just her steady attacking today, that's for sure.”
Neuenfeldt, Taylor Treacy and Taylor Leath all followed with nine kills, while Taylor Fricano connected for four kills on six swings in her minimal time on the court.
“Whenever we needed a big point, we went to them,” said Sagula of the senior class. “That's what you want your veterans to do. I was really excited, especially for Leigh to have that last kill as a senior in this match from the back. I thought that was really big, because that's been a team thing. She played a really smart game. The leadership comes from knowing what to do at the right time, and they did that really well tonight for us.”
Junior libero Sheila Doyle registered her first-ever double-double, putting up a career-high 10 assists to go with 24 digs in her sixth 20-dig performance of the year. Abigail Curry controlled the offense with 41 assists, and Tatiana Durr and Heather Gearhart played solid defense with 12 and nine digs, respectively.
As a team, Carolina hit .317 on the night, including an impressive. 433 in the second set, while holding State to .193.
“Overall, the fourth set is what I'm going to remember – how we were able to come back when it could have been a longer match,” said Sagula. “We were more dialed in in that last set. When we're dialed in like that, I think we can be a really good team.”
Curry started the match off strong with an ace, and soon the Tar Heels led 9-5. NC State regrouped after a timeout to tie the score at 10 on back-to-back kills by Perry Ramsey, but a service error kept the Wolfpack from taking the lead. A 4-0 run served out by Gearhart pushed Carolina back in front, 17-13, and Neuenfeldt closed the set just as it started, with an ace, to win it for UNC, 25-19.
Carolina opened the second set with a 6-0 lead and never let the Wolfpack to get closer than three the rest of the set, cruising to a 25-18 win to take a 2-0 match lead. The Tar Heels hit .433 in the set with just two errors, including five kills on seven swings by Neuenfeldt.
UNC began the third set up 3-0, but after a kill by Fricano made it 10-7, State rattled off four straight to take its first lead in the match, 11-10. A kill by Ramsey extended the lead to 16-13, but Carolina replied to tie the score at 16 on a block by Curry and McPherson. A McPherson kill put UNC back on top, 18-17, but an NC State block made it 20-19 in favor of the Wolfpack. A State error knotted the score at 20, but four straight attack errors gave the set to the Wolfpack, as NC State won its first set over Carolina since 2012 by a score of 25-20.
The Tar Heels came roaring back in the fourth, taking a quick 10-4 lead and running away with the score, 25-14. Senior Leigh Andrew had the last word, connecting for a kill out of the back row on match point to make her final swing at Carmichael count.
“Just playing in here – I kind of took it all in right there,” said Andrew. “It's pretty cool to go out, with this being the last home game, and have the last kill. It's something I'll remember forever.”
Carolina finishes out the regular season with a three-match road swing, beginning with a trip to Charlottesville to take on Virginia on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 7 p.m.
