Carolina Travels to Sunshine State for Pair of ACC Matches

Friday, October 5

Coral Gables, Fla.

7 PM

North Carolina

Miami

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

October 3, 2018 | Volleyball

ACCNE (Friday)ESPN2 (Sunday)Notes

Sunday's match at Florida State will air live on ESPN2

CHAPEL HILL – On the road for six of the next eight matches, North Carolina travels to the Sunshine State to face Miami Friday and Florida State Sunday. The Tar Heels and Seminoles will face off live on ESPN2 at 1 p.m.

Friday's match begins at 7 p.m. in the Knight Complex. Fans unable to attend the match can follow live stats on HurricaneSports.com and watch on the ACC Network Extra. Sunday's 1 p.m. match will air live on ESPN2 from Tully Gymnasium.

Most recently, the Tar Heels rallied from behind to defeat NC State at home before dropping a road match to Virginia Tech. Ava Bell has taken command of UNC's offense the past two weeks, hitting a team-best .392 in ACC play. Destiny Cox leads the team with 164 kills, 3.57 kills/set.

About the Tar Heels (5-8, 1-3 ACC)

The Tar Heels earned their first conference win in come-from-behind fashion over NC State at home Wednesday. However, UNC could not keep its momentum going and fell in straight sets at Virginia Tech.
Head coach Joe Sagula is one win away from 800 career wins and four away from 600 with the Tar Heels.
Destiny Cox leads UNC's attack with 164 kills, followed by Skylar Wine and Ava Bell each with 95. Katharine Esterley paces the Tar Heels' block with 42. Hunter Atherton runs the offense, averaging 9.00 assists per set. Starting libero Mia Fradenburg owns team-best 167 digs, good for 3.55 digs per set.
Each of UNC's preseason losses were against either ranked teams or teams receiving votes in the AVCA poll.

About the Hurricanes (7-4, 3-1 ACC)
After a split weekend at Pitt and Virginia, Miami returns home for their next six of eight matches. The Canes earned their first ACC road win by outhitting Virginia .315 to .153 thanks to double-digit kills from Chloe Brown, Bridget Wallenberger, Elizaveta Lukianova and Kolby Bird. Miami fell to No. 8 Pitt to begin the weekend.

Miami returns home after dropping a three-set match at No. 8 Pitt and topping Virginia in four.
Leads the ACC with 1.67 aces per set, totaling 67 on the season
Recording her 4,000th career assist last weekend, Haley Templeton paces Miami with 9.95 assists per set to rank fifth in the ACC.
Offense is led by Elizaveta Lukianova, Chloe Brown and Kolby Bird who each average over 3.00 kills per set.
Finished 2017 third in the ACC with a 22-6 overall record to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament. Topped College of Charleston in the 2017 First Round of the NCAA Tournament, but fell to #2 Florida in four sets.
UNC leads the series, 15-13 since the first meeting in 2004. However, the Tar Heels have only won three matches at Miami with a 3-9 record.

About the Seminoles (7-7, 3-1 ACC)
Following a strong nonconference slate, Florida State has leveled out with a 7-7 record thanks to a 3-2 start in ACC play. The Seminoles tied their single-match high of 15.0 blocks against No. 8 Pitt, but dropped a four-set match to the league-leading Panthers. The win over Virginia was FSU's seventh sweep of the season.

The Tar Heels and Seminoles crossed paths at the start of the season at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Florida State took a set from Wisconsin while North Carolina took a set from Minnesota.
Ranks second in the ACC in hitting percentage (.275) and third in assists (12.74), kills (13.88) and blocks (2.66) per set.
Offense is led by Payton Caffrey who ranks second in the ACC with 208 kills (4.16 K/S)
Primary setters are Brianne Burkert (6.10 A/S) and Adrian Ell (4.47 A/S)
Picked third in the ACC Preseason poll after finishing 2017 at the NCAA Tournament with a 18-11 record.
UNC is 4-6 in the past 10 meetings, but Florida State owns a 28-6 advantage Carolina at home.

Up Next
The Tar Heels return home to face Pittsburgh at the Dean Smith Center on Friday evening and Virginia at Carmichael Arena Sunday afternoon.

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