Volleyball Upsets No. 18 Notre Dame on Senior Day

Sunday, March 21

Chapel Hill, N.C.

1 PM

North Carolina

10-4,9-3ACC

Notre Dame

11-3,10-3ACC

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Notre Dame	23	21	25	25	9	2
North Carolina	25	25	21	18	15	3

celebration
University of North Carolina Volleyball v Notre Dame
Carmichael Arena
Chapel Hill, NC
Sunday, March 21, 2021

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

March 21, 2021 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Ella Coxe

CHAPEL HILL – Coming down to a decisive fifth set, North Carolina defeated No. 18 Notre Dame, 3-2, on Senior Day in Carmichael Arena Sunday afternoon.

"I couldn't be any more proud of how our team just stayed with it," head coach Joe Sagula said. "There were times when Notre Dame played really well and put a lot of pressure on us. We played really gritty at the end. We showed our competitiveness. I liked the team believed in themselves and played with confidence. We earned a lot of points today and put the pressure back on Notre Dame. I'm so proud of how this team stayed together and played for each other."

The Tar Heels won the first two sets, 25-23 and 25-21. However, the Fighting Irish bounced back to take the third and fourth sets, 25-21 and 25-18. Behind Carolina's match high 13 blocks and eight service aces, the Tar Heels' five-point rally secured the fifth set, 15-9, and the match, 3-2.

"This is a big win for this team against a Notre Dame team who is ranked and playing great volleyball," Sagula said. "This was one of our goals this year. What a great day for our seniors, Aristea Tontai and Maddie Grace Hough. It means a lot to Ari and MG, but also the team who played for them."

Skyy Howard led the Tar Heels with 15 kills while Emily Zinger tallied 14 with 10 digs for a double-double. Annabelle Archer assisted 43 while collected 10 digs for a second UNC double-double. Libero Karenna Wurl had 24 digs to tie her single-match career high. Skyy Howard had a match-high eight blocks, including two solo blocks.

Notre Dame's Charley Niego (21 kills, 10 digs) and Zoe Nunez (47 assists, 24 digs) led the Fighting Irish each with a double-double in the five-set match.

Carolina improves to 10-4 on the season, 9-3 in ACC play while Notre Dame falls to 11-3, 10-3 in ACC play.

Up next, Carolina travels to Pittsburgh to play a pair of ACC matches against Florida State and Pittsburgh on March 27 and 28.

How It Happened
After trading the first few points, Notre Dame sprung out with a 7-4 lead. Archer tied the set at 8-8 with a pair of aces. The Fighting Irish reclaimed the lead, but kills by Howard and Zinger tied the game at 13. The Tar Heels built momentum on an 8-1 run to lead, 17-13. Although Notre Dame tied it up at 20-all, two kills from Zinger put UNC ahead 24-22. Howard and Aristea Tontai had the final block, sealing a 25-23 win for the Tar Heels in the first set.

The Tar Heels scored first with a kill by Howard, but the teams traded runs to keep the set within three. An ace from Ryan Shannon tied, sparked a 4-0 run, tying the game at 9. A kill by Phegley gave UNC a 15-13 lead at the media timeout. A second UNC triple block by Phegley, Zinger and Howard pushed Carolina to a 20-18 lead. UNC's momentum continued as an ace by Wurl clinched the 25-21 second set victory for the Tar Heels.

Mirroring the previous set, UNC jumped to a 3-0 lead over Notre Dame with a kill by Zinger and solo block by Howard. Notre Dame tied the game at 8-8 with a service ace, but Zinger's ninth kill reclaimed the lead. However, the Fighting Irish managed a 7-2 run pushing to a 21-16 lead but a pair of attack errors pulled the Tar Heels back within three. A block by Tontai and Merkler brought UNC within two, but Notre Dame took the set, 25-21.

Despite an Olivia Diaz ace, Notre Dame built on its third-set momentum to take an early 10-5 lead. However, Carolina managed a 6-3 coming out of the media timeout to cut the deficit to two. An explosive block by Howard and Zinger cut Notre Dame's to 16-14. Howard's seventh block of the match stopped a Fighting Irish run late in the frame. However, Notre Dame clinched the set with a kill by Niego for a final score of 25-18.

Although Notre Dame took the early lead, a block by Tontai and Howard brought the Heels within one to spark Carolina's momentum. A kill by Howard gave UNC a 7-5 lead as Notre Dame called time. Back-to-back aces by Wurl sparked a five-point run for the 13-7 edge. A final kill by Zinger secured the five-set senior day victory for Carolina, 15-9.

Carolina Stat Leaders
» Kills: Skyy Howard (15), Emily Zinger (14)
» Hitting percentage: Aristea Tontai (.312, six kills on 16 attempts)
» Assists: Annabelle Archer (43)
» Blocks: Skyy Howard (8)
» Digs: Karenna Wurl (24)
» Aces: Karenna Wurl (3)

Notable
» Carolina's most-recent win over a ranked team was Oct. 13, 2019 when UNC defeated No. 23 Florida State, 3-2.
» Karenna Wurl tied her single-match career-high with 24 digs.