Tar Heels Conclude Successful 2015 Season

CHAPEL HILL - Carolina volleyball concluded a successful campaign in 2015 by finishing second in the Atlantic Coast Conference at 17-3 and advancing to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels used a 12-match winning streak to set up a shot at the conference title and secure their sixth consecutive 20-win season.

The Tar Heels lose a talented senior class, including middle hitters Paige Neuenfeldt and Victoria McPherson who both left their mark on the Carolina record books and collected a plethora of honors throughout their careers. Joining them in the senior class are outside hitter Leigh Andrew, defensive specialist Heather Gearhart and setter Jordyn Schnabl, who's career was unexpectedly cut short due to a concussion sustained in late October. Kody Michal was promoted from head manager to team setter following Schnabl's injury, and made her first career appearance at Wake Forest on Nov. 25.

Tar Heels Host NCAA Tournament Opening Rounds

Carolina's difficult schedule paid off, as the Tar Heels were selected as one of 16 host institutions for the 2015 NCAA Tournament First and Second Rounds.
UNC was not picked as one of the top-16 national seeds, as #16-seed Creighton, who did not submit a bid to host, travelled to Carmichael Arena.
Coastal Carolina and UNCW rounded out the weekend field.
After suffering a five-set loss to UNCW earlier in the season, the Tar Heels exacted revenge over the Seahawks on Dec. 4, sweeping UNCW to advance to the Second Round.
#16-seed Creighton won the Chapel Hill subregional, defeating Coastal Carolina and UNC in four sets each, to advance to the San Diego Regional.
Four ACC teams earned bids to the 2015 NCAA Tournament, as Carolina joined Florida State, Miami and #15-seed Louisville. Miami dropped its first-round match to Iowa State, while Florida State and Louisville both advanced to the second round but fell in four sets to #11-seed Florida and Illinois, respectively.
#4-seed Nebraska won the 2015 NCAA Volleyball Championship just 59 miles away from home in Omaha, sweeping #3-seed Texas to claim its fourth national title.

Tar Heels in the Tournament

The Tar Heels competed in the NCAA Tournament in 2015 for the 17th time in program history, and the sixth straight.
Carolina served as a host for the fifth time and for the second consecutive year. UNC also hosted the opening rounds in 2001, 2002 and 2005.
Placed in the San Diego Region, the Tar Heels sought a spot at Regionals for the third time in program history but fell short, dropping their Second Round match to Creighton, 3-1.
The Tar Heels are 13-17 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including 13-13 under head coach Joe Sagula. Carolina is 6-3 at home, all coming during Sagula's tenure, with both Regional appearances coming after hosting the First and Second Rounds.

Paige Neuenfeldt Reels in Awards

Tar Heel senior Paige Neuenfeldt collected nearly every potential postseason honor in her final season wearing Carolina Blue, earning Academic All-America First Team, AVCA All-America Third Team, Senior CLASS Award First-Team All-America, AVCA All-East Coast Region and All-ACC First Team.
Neuenfeldt, who was the first Tar Heel to garner two Academic All-District First Team selections earlier in the season, became the first Carolina volleyball player ever to be named Academic All-America as one of six student-athletes in the nation named to the First Team.
The middle hitter is the third Tar Heel to earn AVCA All-America honors, following former teammate Chaniel Nelson (2014 Second Team) and Laura Green (2002 Third Team).
Following her junior year, Neuenfeldt had become the first Tar Heel to appear on the AVCA All-America list three times, garnering her third consecutive Honorable Mention, as her 2015 honor doubles the number of AVCA national honors of any other Tar Heel.
After amassing 33 percent of the fan vote, more than double the vote count of any of the other nine national finalists, Neuenfeldt was named a Senior CLASS Award First Team All-American. She is the third Tar Heel since the award's inception in 2010 to land on the First Team, joining Nelson (2014) and Kaylie Gibson (2011). No Tar Heel has won the volleyball Senior CLASS Award.

Three Tar Heels Selected All-ACC and AVCA All-Region

Tar Heel attackers Paige Neuenfeldt, Victoria McPherson and Taylor Treacy were all named to the All-ACC First Team and to the AVCA All-East Coast Region teams after putting together successful campaigns during the regular season.
All three appeared on the AVCA All-America list, as Neuenfeldt became the third Tar Heel All-American with a spot on the Third Team and McPherson and Treacy both took home Honorable Mentions.
Neuenfeldt received postseason honors all four years, being named ACC and Region Freshman of the Year in 2012, to the All-ACC Second Team as a sophomore and to the First Team last fall. The talented middle appeared on the AVCA All-Region team four years in a row and collected three All-America Honorable Mentions before this year's Third-Team selections.
McPherson became a three-time All-ACC honoree, having garnered Second Team nods in each of the past two seasons, while taking home her second All-Region award.
Treacy collected her first-ever postseason awards after putting together a breakout season from the right side, which included hitting .279 with 1.-7 blocks per set during ACC play.

Tar Heels Run Through ACC With 12-Match Winning Streak

Carolina went on a tear down the stretch, winning 12 straight matches before falling to Duke in the regular-season finale.
During the streak, UNC averaged 14.28 kills, 17.65 digs and 3.03 blocks per set, hitting .264.
The winning streak lifted Carolina to No. 22 in AVCA Poll and #20 in the RPI, as well as to second place in the ACC standings, helping the Tar Heels post their sixth consecutive 20-win season.

Block Party

North Carolina was a force to be reckoned with at the net, ranking fourth in the nation by averaging 3.05 blocks per set. Paige Neuenfeldt and Victoria McPherson ranked first and fifth in the ACC with 1.47 and 1.27 blocks per set, respectively.
Carolina put up at least seven blocks in all-but-four match this season, posting 20 double-digit performances, including three matches with 15 or more.

Rewriting the Record Book

Paige Neuenfeldt broke nearly every career blocking record, rewriting the record book with 490 block assists, 568 total blocks and 1.29 blocks per set. Neuenfeldt surpassed Tori Seibert (1996-99) in both totals (464 BA, 566 TB), while besting Holly Strauss (1999-02) by 0.05 blocks per set.
Neuenfeldt entered the final match of the season holding the single-season record for blocks per set (1.50) and needing just two block assists to reach the all-time record set by Krista Buchholz in 2000. However, the senior was held without a block for the first time since the 2013 NCAA Tournament, as Neuenfeldt finished just shy of breaking both Buchholz's records.
In addition to her blocking prowess, Neuenfeldt was one of the most efficient hitters in program history, ranking second all time with a .342 attack percentage.
The Tar Heel senior became the first attacker to join the 1,000-kill club since 2012 (Emily McGee) in the final match of her career, finishing with a total of 1,001 slams.
Fellow middle Victoria McPherson also splashed her name across the Carolina record books, finishing third all-time in career blocks per set (1.23), fourth in block assists (383) and sixth in hitting percentage (.304).
McPherson broke a 20-year old single-season record in 2014, finishing with 1.48 blocks per set as a junior, then posted the third-best hitting percentage as a senior, hitting .360.

Tar Heels Take On One of Nation's Toughest Schedules

According to the NCAA's Strength of Schedule rankings, Carolina played the 17th-most-difficult schedule in the nation this season, including the third-hardest nonconference slate in the country.
The Tar Heels played a total of nine opponents that finished the season ranked in the AVCA top 25, including No. 3 Minnesota, No. 5 USC, No. 10 Wisconsin, No. 11 BYU, No. 14 Stanford, No. 19 Creighton, No. 20 Florida State, No. 21 Louisville and No. 24 Michigan, as well as a nonconference matchup with Michigan State who received votes in the year-end poll.
Carolina posted wins over three of those nine teams, with sweeps of Stanford and Michigan and a four-set victory over Louisville.
Eight of Carolina's nine nonconference opponents received bids to the 2015 NCAA Tournament, with the Tar Heels facing #1-seed USC, #2-seed Minnesota, #6-seed Wisconsin, #8-seed Stanford, #13-seed BYU and #15-seed Louisville during the regular season, as well as first-round opponent UNCW, Michigan, Michigan State, Florida State and Miami.
Of the Tar Heels' 11 regular-season opponents that participated in the NCAA Tournament, nine advanced to the Second Round. USC, BYU, Minnesota and Wisconsin all advanced to Regionals, with USC making the Elite Eight and Minnesota playing in the Final Four.
The Tar Heels had three wins over ranked opponents, having swept then-No. 3 Stanford and then-No. 20 Michigan in nonconference play and knocking off then-No. 23 Louisville on Oct. 30.
2015 marked the fourth season in UNC history that the Tar Heels won at least three matches against ranked opponents and the second straight. It was also just the fourth time that UNC played at least seven matches against teams in the AVCA Poll, with Carolina setting its records with six wins in nine matches (.667) against top-25 teams in 2014.
USC, ranked No. 22 at the time of the match, spent six weeks of the regular season at No. 1, earned the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament, and was the final team in the nation to lose its first match after winning its first 22 straight. UNC took the second set from USC on opening night, after which the Trojans went on to win the next 29 straight.
Of Carolina's 10 losses, six were to teams that finished in the top 25 of the AVCA Poll, including three of the top 10. Carolina's lowest-ranked loss came at #73 Duke in the regular-season finale. #38 Michigan State was the lowest-ranked team on Carolina's schedule that the Tar Heels failed to defeat at least once, with the Spartans winning their only meeting. Carolina lost to #46 Pittsburgh, #58 UNCW and #73 Duke, but also defeated all three in their other matchup. No team defeated Carolina more than once in 2015.

Carolina Hits Stride in ACC Play

After struggling to find their rhythm during an extremely challenging nonconference slate, the Tar Heels put it all together during ACC play, finishing in second place at 17-3, including a streak of 12-straight victories.
Carolina sat in the top half of the conference in nearly every statistical category during ACC play, ranking third in hitting percentage (.259), opponent hitting percentage (.172), digs (16.63) and blocks (3.06) and fourth in kills (14.14) and assists (13.04).
The Tar Heel upperclassmen shouldered the load for Carolina, led by senior middle hitters Victoria McPherson and Paige Neuenfeldt, who ranked in the top 10 in both blocks and hitting percentage, with Neuenfeldt leading the ACC in blocks per set in all games and in ACC play.
With eight 20-dig performances including 35 in a four-set win over Notre Dame, libero Sheila Doyle finished fourth in the ACC with an average of 4.80 digs per set.
Doyle posted 20 digs in both NCAA Tournament matches to finish the year ranked eighth overall with 4.03 digs per set. The junior averaged 4.90 digs per set in the 23 matches in which she played libero, which would rank third in the ACC.

Tar Heels Ranked No. 25 in Final AVCA Poll

Coming off its most successful season in program history, the North Carolina volleyball team was ranked No. 7 in the 2015 AVCA Division I Coaches Preseason Poll. The ranking matched the highest in school history and marked the first time the Tar Heels started a season in the top 10 nationally.
The Tar Heels fell to No. 18 after opening weekend losses to ranked USC and BYU squads, then dropped just outside the top 25 the following week. Despite the slow start to 2015, Carolina has continued to receive votes in every AVCA Poll this season.
After putting together a seven-match winning streak, North Carolina returned to the AVCA Poll on Nov. 9, debuting at No. 25, then improved to No. 22 in the next two polls. After a setback at Duke in the regular-season finale, Carolina entered the postseason ranked No. 23 in the nation, and the Tar Heels' early exit from the NCAA Tournament had Carolina finish the year at No. 25.

Victoria McPherson Named ACC Player of the Week on Nov. 16

Senior Victoria McPherson earned ACC Co-Player of the Week honors on Nov. 16, after hitting .488 without an errorless 21 kills and 10 blocks in sweeps of Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech.
McPherson opened the weekend with 10 kills and five blocks against Pitt, exacting revenge on the Panthers who topped the Tar Heels in September.
She then hit .611 with 11 kills and five blocks in the three-set sweep of Virginia Tech.
McPherson was the third Tar Heel to win the award this season and it was the third weekly award for the senior, who earned ACC Player of the Week twice as a sophomore.

Abigail Curry Named ACC Player of the Week on Nov. 2

Shortly after the Tar Heels took the court for serve and pass on Oct. 25, Jordyn Schnabl was struck in the head by a blocked ball and was scratched from participating in Carolina's match against Clemson. The senior setter had not missed a match since her freshman year, playing every single match since the start of 2013 in a 6-2 with junior counterpart Abigail Curry.
For the first time in her three-year career at UNC, Curry was tasked with running the Tar Heel offense on her own for all six rotations, but the junior did not skip a beat, leading the Tar Heels to one of their most efficient performances in program history with a .500 hitting percentage.
The following weekend, Curry guided the Tar Heels to key victories over No. 23 Louisville and Notre Dame to earn herself ACC Co-Player of the Week honors. The junior posted a double-double in both matches, setting career highs with 38 assists, 16 digs, three kills and two blocks against the first-place Cardinals, then putting up the most assists for a Tar Heel in a four-set match since 2007 on Nov. 1 with 55 vs. Notre Dame.
Curry took home her first weekly honor since 2013, when she earned an ACC Freshman of the Week nod on Sept. 30.

Neuenfeldt Named ACC POW on Oct. 5

Senior Paige Neuenfeldt was nearly unstoppable on the Tar Heels' ACC home opening weekend, leading UNC to sweeps of Duke and Wake Forest.
The middle hitter connected for kills on each of her final 10 swings against Duke to break and 18-year-old school record with an .846 hitting percentage (11-0-13) on the night, and finished the weekend hitting .727 without an attack error.
She and teammate Victoria McPherson were a force to be reckoned with at the net, helping the Tar Heels out-blocking their opponents 26.5 to 4.0 on the weekend, including a total of 17 blocks by McPherson over the six sets of ACC action.

Tar Heels Stun No. 3 Stanford

North Carolina opened the home season in style but taking down then-No. 3 Stanford in straight sets. The win marked the second top-3 victory in as many seasons and the first-ever sweep for UNC over a top-3 opponent.
Stanford came to Carmichael after falling 3-0 to No. 1 Penn State, as the Tar Heels and Nittany Lions became the first pair in John Dunning's 15-year career as Stanford head coach to sweep the Cardinal in back-to-back matches.
Carolina used efficient attacking to earn the victory, out-hitting Stanford .300 to .162 while making just five unforced errors in the match including hitting .619 without an error in the opening set.

Tar Heels Sweep Unbeaten Michigan to Close Nonconference

After struggling with consistency early in the season and losing a key role player to a season-ending injury the night before, North Carolina put together an impressive performance on Saturday, Sept. 19, sweeping No. 20 Michigan on Alumni Night.
The key to victory was aggressive serving, as the Tar Heels put up eight service aces while adding 13 blocks and holding the Wolverines, who entered the match at a program-best 10-0 to start the year, to just a .071 hitting percentage.

Andrew Named To Baden Invitational All-Tournament Team

Senior outside hitter Leigh Andrew was named to the all-tournament team at last weekend's Women of Troy Baden Invitational in Los Angeles. Andrew led the Tar Heels with 31 kills on the weekend (3.10 kills/set) and was third on the team with 23 digs (2.30 d/s).
Andrew just missed a double-double in the season opener against USC, finishing with 10 kills and eight digs against the Women of Troy.
The veteran from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, had her best performance of the weekend against BYU. Andrew matched her career high with 18 kills and added a team-high 14 digs.

Scoreboard Slider

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Leigh Andrew

Abigail Curry

Abigail Curry

Sheila Doyle

Victoria McPherson

Victoria McPherson

Kody Michal

Chaniel Nelson

Paige Neuenfeldt

Paige Neuenfeldt

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