Carolina Comes From Behind to Defeat Duke, 3-2

Saturday, November 17

Durham, NC

2 PM

North Carolina

8-18, 4-13ACC

Duke

14-11, 8-8ACC

North Carolina

Duke

November 17, 2018 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. – Despite dropping the first set and trailing by as many as seven, North Carolina stormed back for a 3-2 win over Duke on Saturday afternoon at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Carolina's 13 blocks proved the difference-maker against the Blue Devils, as a block by Hunter Atherton and Ava Bell clinched the five-set win.

Hitting errors plagued both teams as neither hit over .200 for the match average. Duke (14-11, 8-8) won the first and third sets, but UNC (8-18, 4-13) was able to bounce back and close out the contest hitting .300 and .355 in the final two frames. With the win, head coach Joe Sagula is one win away from his 600th at UNC.

Bell paced the Tar Heels with a team-high 15 kills while hitting .424. Destiny Cox logged her 16th double-digit kill match with 11. Skylar Wine recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 10 kills and 13 digs. Mia Fradenburg matched her season high with 22 digs while Casey Jacobs and Greer Moseman posted double-figure digs with 14 and 10, respectively.

Atherton saw her name in every column for Carolina, dishing out a match-best 38 assists with five kills, four digs, three blocks and one ace. In addition to Bell's five blocks, Katharine Esterley stuffed a match-best of seven, including a career high of two solo blocks. Aristea Tontai came off the bench to tie a career high, six blocks.

Duke's Payton Schwantz led all hitters with 18 kills while three other Blue Devils logged double-digit kills, including a triple-double from Andie Shelton (11 kills, 24 assists, 10 digs). Libero Mackenzie Cole collected a match-best 29 digs, helping the Blue Devils to their 80 total.

Duke went on a 6-0 run early in the frame, but UNC was able to answer back with a three-point run to cut the deficit to 14-10. Tontai and Esterley stuffed the Blue Devils and Moseman's solid serving, including an ace, put the Tar Heels on a 5-0 run that knotted the frame at 17-17. Duke earned three-straight points coming out of the timeout to reclaim the lead. The Tar Heels prevailed through one set point on a LaGarde kill, but Duke's Leah Meyer closed out the set, 25-22.

After trailing by as many as five in the set, Carolina ended the frame on a 5-0 run to tie the match up at 1-1. Tontai and Bell logged a pair of blocks early in the second frame for a 4-2 edge. Carolina and Duke traded several 3-0 runs in the second set. However, Duke managed a four-point run to lead 19-14 late in the frame. Atherton dumped the ball for a kill and dished out an ace to bring UNC within two, 19-21. Carolina battled through three set points to knot the frame at 24-24 thanks to a kill from Wine, a Duke hitting error and a Fradenburg ace. The Blue Devils called a timeout, but Bell swatted her sixth kill to make it set point Heels. A Duke miscue gave Carolina the 26-24 set decision to tie the match at 1-1.

Duke bounced back in set three, matching the Tar Heels late run to take the third set for a 2-1 edge. Wine evened up the score at 8-all with an ace before LaGarde knotted it again at 12 with a kill. Back-to-back kills by Cox tied the set up again at 18-18. However, the Blue Devils ended the set on a 6-0 run for the 25-20 win. Carolina struggled in the set, only managing six kills compared to Duke's 16.

Mirroring set two, the Tar Heels capped off the set on a six-point run to tie the match up at 2-2. Carolina began the set with a pair of kills from Wine. The Tar Heels went on a 4-0 run for an early 6-4 edge. UNC reclaimed the lead on back-to-back kills from Bell. However, Duke responded with a three-point run that forced a UNC timeout. The Tar Heels responded with a 3-0 run of their own to tie the set up at 16-16 on kills from Madison Laufenberg, Atherton and Bell as Duke called time. Esterley posted her second solo block of the day before Cox gave UNC a 22-21 edge on her seventh kill. Capitalizing on late Duke errors, the Tar Heels hit at a .300 clip en route to the 25-21 set four win.

The Tar Heels strung together a trio of points on kills by Bell and Cox, but neither team managed more than a one-point lead until Cox slugged her 10th kill of the day to make it 7-5, Carolina. UNC continued its attack, taking a 12-9 lead as Duke called both of its timeouts. However, the Blue Devils responded with a three-point run to tie the set up at 12. Carolina bounced back with a pair of kills by Bell and a block with Atherton for the 15-12 win.

The Tar Heels conclude their 2018 season with Senior Day, Wednesday, Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. vs. Florida State.

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