Tar Heels’ Come-Back Effort Falls Short at Miami

Friday, October 5

Coral Gables, Fla.

7 PM

North Carolina

5-9, 1-4ACC

Miami

8-4, 4-1ACC

North Carolina

Miami

Madison Laufenberg (14) recorded a new single-match career-high of 16 kills on Friday night at Miami.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

October 5, 2018 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

CORAL GABLES, Fla. –Despite Madison Laufenberg's career high 16 kills, North Carolina dropped a 3-1 decision to Miami Friday night in the Knight Complex. The Tar Heels (5-9, 1-4 ACC) fought from behind for the set three win, but it was not enough to take the match against the Hurricanes (8-4, 4-1 ACC).

Laufenberg paced Carolina's offense with resetting her previous single-match career-high of 10 kills to 16, hitting .351. Hunter Atherton posted her fourth double-double of the season with 39 assists and 15 digs. Destiny Cox tacked on 13 kills while Ava Bell hit a team-best .360 with 11 kills. Mia Fradenburg was two digs shy of a career high with 22 digs in the match. Skylar Wine blew her previous career high of two digs out of the water with 10 on Friday night.

However, four Canes posted double-digit kills to lead Miami to the 3-1 win. Kolby Bird led the Hurricanes with 16 kills. Chloe Brown also stood out for the Canes, posting a double-double with 12 kills and team-high 21 digs.

Setting the tone for her performance, Laufenberg went over the Miami block for the first kill of the match. Miami maintained a narrow lead throughout the set, taking no more than a three-point advantage. Carolina worked to tie up the frame at 14. However, the Hurricanes answered back with a 5-1 run coming out of the media timeout. Back-to-back kills by Laufenberg brought the score within two, 22-20, but it was not enough to take the set. Miami's Elizaveta Lukianova slugged six error-less kills in the frame for the 25-20 decision.

The Tar Heels maintained a steady two-point lead through the media timeout thanks to four kills apiece from Bell and Laufenberg in the stanza. However, the Hurricanes knotted the set three times before taking an 18-17 advantage. Maddie Grace Hough came off the bench and sent an ace over the net to tie the frame at 19-all. Miami answered back to take a 23-20 lead and eventually the set, 25-22.

North Carolina bounced back in set three in commanding fashion with a mere two attack errors in the frame and four aces. Cox led UNC in the frame with four kills while both Bell and Laufenberg each tacked on three. The Tar Heels went on a 9-1 run to take a 19-9 lead. Both Bell and Atherton each recorded an ace in the run. UNC slugged four aces in the set while hitting .333. Carolina limited the Canes to a .056 hitting percentage en route to the 25-15 set win.

The Tar Heels fell behind early in the fourth set, but Laufenberg's career night brought UNC within two at the media timeout, 15-13. Her six kills in the set in addition to three from both Wine and Cox kept UNC within striking distance. However, Miami's Bird slugged five kills to secure the 25-18 win and the 3-1 victory.

North Carolina travels to Florida State Sunday for a 1 p.m. match on ESPN2. 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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