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University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels To Face #10-Seed UCLA In NCAA Regionals
December 6, 2016 | Volleyball
| Schedule & Links |
| #2 Minnesota vs. #15 Missouri Dec. 9 | 8:15 PM ET | ESPN3 | Stats |
| #7 UNC vs. #10 UCLA Dec. 9 | 10:45 PM ET | ESPNU | Stats |
| NCAA Regional Final Dec. 10 | 10 PM ET | ESPNU | Stats |
| Where: Sports Pavillion |
| All-Session Passes: $60 Premium, $40 Chairbacks, $30 Benches. More Info |
| #10 UCLA (26-6, 15-5 Pac-12) |
| Pac-12: T-2nd • AVCA: 8 • RPI: 12 |
| First Round: Murray State (3-1) |
| Second Round: Baylor (3-0) |
| 2015 NCAAs: Regional Semifinals |
| Series: Trails 0-2; Last: L, 1-3, 9/6/97 |
| #2 Minnesota (27-4, 17-3 Big Ten) |
| Big Ten: T-2nd • AVCA: 1 • RPI: 2 |
| First Round: North Dakota (3-0) |
| Second Round: Hawaii (3-0) |
| 2015 NCAAs: National Semifinals |
| Series: Trails 1-8; Last: L, 1-3, 9/10/16 |
| #15 Missouri (27-5, 16-2 SEC) |
| SEC: T-1st • AVCA: 18 • RPI: 9 |
| First Round: Northern Illinois (3-0) |
| Second Round: Purdue (3-1) |
| 2015 NCAAs: Second Round |
| Series: First Meeting |
MINNEAPOLIS - #7-seed North Carolina defeated High Point and Coastal Carolina in the NCAA Opening Rounds to advance to NCAA Regionals for the third time in program history. The Tar Heels head to Minneapolis, Minnesota, home of #2-seed Minnesota, for NCAA Regionals on Dec. 9-10. Carolina will take on #10-seed UCLA on Friday, Dec. 9, at 10:45 p.m. ET. The winner will advance to face either #2 Minnesota or #15 Missouri on Saturday, Dec. 10, at 10 p.m. ET, in a Regional Final. Both of UNC's matches will air live on ESPNU, while the first Regional Semifinal will be streamed on ESPN3. Saturday's victor will punch its ticket to the NCAA Volleyball Championship (Final Four), which will be held at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 15 and Dec. 17.
Tar Heels in the Tournament
Carolina earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2016 for the 18th time in program history and 14th under head coach Joe Sagula. UNC is playing in the postseason for the seventh straight season and opened at home for the third year in a row.
Carolina earned a national seed for the third time, matching the #7-seed from 2014 after earning the #11-seed in 2002. With a 3-1 victory over Coastal Carolina on Dec. 3, the Tar Heels punched their ticket to NCAA Regionals for the third time ever. UNC has advanced to the second weekend of play all three times that it has received a national seed.
The Tar Heels are 15-17 all time in the NCAA Tournament. UNC has advanced to the second round 11 times and to NCAA Regionals three times. UNC's best run came just two seasons ago when the #7-seed Tar Heels advanced to their first-ever Regional Final (Elite Eight) where they dropped a heartbreaking, 31-29, fourth set to Texas in the Minneapolis Regional.
UNC returns to Minneapolis for NCAA Regionals for the second time in three years. It is the fifth time in school history that Carolina will play in Minneapolis, and UNC has a 5-6 record all time in the Twin Cities.
Five of UNC's eight nonconference opponents were selected to the 2016 NCAA Tournament, including two of the top three overall seeds. UNC could see a rematch with #2-Minnesota in the Elite 8, while the Heels defeated #3-seed Wisconsin and #16-seed Penn State earlier this season. Additionally, SMU and TCU earned postseason bids along with ACC opponents Florida State and Pittsburgh.
All seven of Carolina's regular-season opponents advanced to the Second Round and four made it to NCAA Regionals. #2 Minnesota and #3 Wisconsin will host Regionals this weekend. #16 Penn State defeated ACC member Pitt to advance to the Lincoln Regional, while Florida State came back from down 0-2 to defeat rival #11 Florida and advance to the Madison Regional. TCU defeated Wichita State before falling to #1 Nebraska, while SMU beat Texas A&M but lost to #4 Texas.
Against The Field
North Carolina will face 10th-seeded UCLA in the Regional Semifinal for just the third time and first since 1997. The Tar Heels faced the Bruins for the first time in 1977, dropping an 0-2 decision during Pool Play of the AIAW National Tournament. Then-No. 21 UCLA defeated UNC, 3-1, in the Hawaii Rainbow Classic on Sept. 6, 1997, in the Tar Heels' sole matchup under Sagula.
Should the Tar Heels advance to the Regional Final, they would face either second-seeded Minnesota or 15th-seeded Missouri. Carolina has never played against Missouri and is 1-8 all time against Minnesota. UNC defeated then-No. 8 UM in Minneapolis on Sept. 20, 2008, but have dropped the most recent two matchups, including UNC's only loss at Carmichael Arena this season on Sept. 10 (3-1).
If Carolina were to defeat Minnesota on Saturday, it would be UNC's first-ever win over the top-ranked team in the nation according to the AVCA Poll. Carolina has never won a set against the No. 1 team in the country, going 0-3 all time, including a loss to No. 1 Minnesota on Sept. 18, 2004.
UNC Sweeps AVCA Region Awards
Pin hitters Taylor Leath, Taylor Treacy and Julia Scoles were all named to the AVCA All-East Coast Region. The same trio earned First-Team All-ACC honors. A redshirt senior opposite hitter, Treacy claimed her second consecutive All-Region award, while underclassmen Leath and Scoles made the All-Region Team for the first time.
ACC Freshman of the Year Scoles became the second Tar Heel ever to win Region Freshman of the Year (Paige Neuenfeldt, 2012), while head coach Joe Sagula, the 2016 ACC Coach of the Year, garnered his fourth career AVCA Region Coach of the Year award (1998, 2001, 2002).
Tar Heels Win 13th ACC Title
With a 3-1 victory over rival Duke on Nov. 23, Carolina clinched its 13th Atlantic Coast Conference title. The Tar Heels captured a school-record 19 ACC victories, going 19-1 in conference play to finish two matches ahead of second-place Florida State (17-3). Thirteen titles is the most for any ACC volleyball program, while 11 outright titles is also more than any other. Duke follows with 11 championships, 10 outright. Head coach Joe Sagula won the ACC Championship for the seventh time in his career, tying former Duke coach Jon Wilson for the most in league history.
The official ACC title was determined by the ACC Tournament from 1980-2004, during which time Carolina took home nine league championships. During that span UNC also finished atop the regular-season standings nine times, winning both the regular season and the ACC Tournament five times (1981, 1982, 1983, 1989, 2000). The final ACC Volleyball Tournament was played in 2004, and ever since the ACC Champion has been determined by the regular-season standings. Carolina tied Maryland for first place at 18-4 in 2005 for the first-ever ACC Co-Championship. UNC tied Duke in 2008 (15-5), before winning the outright title in 2014 (17-1).
Carolina Racks Up Conference Honors
Following such a successful regular season, seven Tar Heels took home postseason awards from the ACC. Sophomore Taylor Leath earned ACC Player of the Year, Julia Scoles won ACC Freshman of the Year, and Joe Sagula took home his fifth career ACC Coach of the Year award as Carolina won three of the five individual awards. Leath, Scoles and Taylor Treacy were named First-Team All-ACC, while Taylor Fricano and Abigail Curry garnered Second Team honors. Additionally, Scoles and Taylor Borup earned places on the All-Freshman Team.
Leath is the sixth Tar Heel to win ACC Player of the Year and first since 2005, while Scoles is the fourth to be named ACC Freshman of the Year and third in the past six seasons. UNC won both ACC Player and Freshman of the Year for the first time since 1989, when Carolina won the regular season and tournament championship and captured all three individual honors. UNC placed a school-record five players on the all-conference list and claimed three spots on the First Team for the eighth time. Two Tar Heels appeared on the All-Freshman team for the second time ever (1999).
Efficiency Is Key
The Tar Heels have been extremely efficient on offense this season, posting a school-record .275 team season hitting percentage. The mark beats out the previous record of .275 from way back in 1983. Carolina has hit over .300 13 times this season, including a .489 clip against Clemson on Nov. 11. The .489 mark was the second-highest during the rally-scoring era. UNC has held itself to single-digit errors in five matches, including a rally-scoring record low five in the Clemson sweep.
Meanwhile, Carolina's defense has held its opponents to the second-lowest hitting percentage in program history at an ACC-leading .161. The 2008 Tar Heels were the only team with steadier defense, holding their opponents to .148 hitting behind an average of 18.21 digs per set and 13 sweeps.
Block Party
Carolina's blocking unit, which ranked in the top five in the nation in each of the past two seasons, continues to dominate hitters, as UNC leads the ACC and ranks sixth in the nation with 2.97 blocks per set.
The Tar Heel blocking unit set a new season record for block assists during the regular-season finale and now has a total of 633 block assists. The 2016 Heels surpassed the record of 599 set in 2014, which broke a 14-year-old record of 581 from 2000.
Carolina has posted 21 double-digit blocking matches, including the first 20-block performance since 2006 at Duke on Sept. 1. Redshirt freshman Sydnye Fields broke UNC's single-match block assists record with 15 (16 total) against Duke, while the team's 38 block assists (21.0 total) broke the program record by four.
Fields, who missed the final month of the regular season with an injury, ranks eighth all time at UNC and second in the ACC with 1.39 blocks per set on the season. Taylor Fricano is fourth overall in the ACC and finished third during conference play in blocks per set (1.49).
Fricano's 1.35 b/s mark ranks 10th all time in season blocks per set, while her 138 block assists are tied for third in UNC history. The redshirt junior, who has averaged 6.6 blocks per match over the past 14 matches (1.77 b/s) needs just five block assists to break the UNC season record of 142 by Krista Buchholz in 2000.
Meanwhile, senior Taylor Treacy broke into the top 10 of the career charts on Dec. 2 with her 280th career block assist. She would need 42 more this postseason, however, to finish any higher than 10th.
Fields and Fricano have both posted double-digit blocking performances this season, with two by Fields (Penn State, Duke) and one by Fricano (Pittsburgh).
Carolina Takes Down Record Three Top-10 Teams
The Tar Heels have taken on an extremely difficult slate this year, yet come through with a pristine 29-3 campaign. Carolina went an impressive 4-1 against ranked opponents during the season and set a new school record with three victories over top-10 teams.
UNC took down No. 9 Penn State in State College on Aug. 27. The win marked the first home nonconference loss for the seven-time national champion Nittany Lions in five years (Oregon, 8/26/11), and just its 15th nonconference defeat at home in the history of the program. Penn State entered the match 316-14 (.958) all time at home in nonconference play and 580-33 (.946) overall at home.
Carolina made history once again on Sept. 9, knocking off No. 2 Wisconsin in five sets at Carmichael Arena. The ACC/Big Ten Challenge victory was Carolina's first ever over a team ranked in the top two. UNC defeated the third-ranked team in the nation in both 2014 and 2015.
The Tar Heels took their first loss of the year the following night at the hands of No. 5 Minnesota, but returned to its winning ways on Nov. 6, coming back from down 0-2 on the road to defeat No. 10 Florida State, 3-2.
The Tar Heels are 3-1 over top-10 opponents this season and 9-29 all time. UNC defeated more than one top-10 team this year for the first time in the history of the AVCA Poll. Carolina will face its fifth top-10 opponent, No. 8 UCLA, on Friday, and could see No. 1 Minnesota the following night.
UNC played six matches against teams that are ranked in the top 25 of this week's RPI and went 9-3 against the top 50. Carolina defeated #1 Wisconsin, #20 TCU and #22 Florida State twice. The Tar Heels' three losses came to #2 Minnesota, #20 TCU and #39 Pittsburgh, all of whom made the NCAA Tournament. UNC took care of business against weaker opponents, going a perfect 20-0 against teams ranked outside the top 50 with 12 sweeps. The three team's in the Minnesota Regional are all ranked in the RPI top 15.
Tar Heels In The AVCA Poll
Following a successful season in 2015, Carolina opened the season ranked No. 19 in the AVCA Preseason Poll. It marked the third consecutive season that the Tar Heels began in the AVCA top-20 and the fourth time in program history.
UNC used a strong opening weekend, including a defeat of No. 9 Penn State, to jump to No. 12 in the first regular season poll. Another top-10 victory later—defeating No. 2 Wisconsin—UNC moved into the top 10, jumping from No. 11 (Sept. 5) to No. 8 on Sept. 12. It marked the 11th time UNC had appeared in the AVCA Top 10.
The Tar Heels have remained in the top 12 every week since the first regular season poll, and after a key comeback victory over Georgia Tech, UNC achieved its highest ranking ever on Nov. 14, 2016, moving up two spots to No. 6 where it has remained ever since. Carolina has been ranked in the AVCA top 10 a total of 20 times in program history, including in 10 polls in 2016.
Hot Streak
UNC got off to its best start to ACC play in program history, opening the conference slate with 11 straight wins. The final team in a Power 5 conference to take a loss in conference play, the Tar Heels won the ACC title outright at 19-1.
Carolina began the 2001 ACC slate 9-0 before falling in five sets to Maryland with a heartbreaking 16-14 fifth-set score. Carolina has opened the conference campaign at 8-0 twice before, in 1999 and 2002. All three times, the Tar Heels won either the regular season or the ACC Tournament.
The Tar Heels went undefeated in conference play three times, all back in the 80s when the ACC slate featured a single round robin against the much smaller ACC field. UNC went 7-0 in 1986 and 6-0 in both 1982 and 1989.
The 11-0 start to ACC play includes an 11-match overall winning streak, marking the third straight season that UNC has posted a double-digit winning streak. Additionally, Carolina enters NCAA Regional riding a 10-match winning streak, the 14th double-digit streak in program history. 2016 is the second season in school history in which UNC has posted multiple double-digit winning streaks, after the Heels recorded two 10-match streaks in 1980. Just like this season, the 1980 Heels had just a single loss between double-digit streaks.
Carolina won 12 straight matches in ACC play last season before dropping the final match of the regular season to Duke. After losing the 2014 ACC opener at Florida State, the Tar Heels rattled off a school-record 20 straight victories to win the ACC title and make their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight
Despite an extremely challenging nonconference slate, the Tar Heels rank fourth in the nation with a .906 winning percentage at 29-3. Were the season to end today, it would match the best winning percentage in program history, following the 29-3 (.906) mark from 2014, which ended in Carolina's first-ever trip to the Elite Eight.
