University of North Carolina Athletics
Friday, September 16
Richmond, Va.
10 a.m.
North Carolina
6-3,0-0ACC
3
vs
1
Old Dominion
4-7,0-0Sun Belt
1
2
3
4
F
Old Dominion
19
25
20
19
1
North Carolina
25
21
25
25
3
Photo by: Keith Lucas
Volleyball Goes 2-0 On First Day Of VCU Invitational
September 16, 2022 | Volleyball
RICHMOND, Va. – The Carolina volleyball team opened the VCU Invitational on Friday with back-to-back wins over Old Dominion and VCU, improving 7-3 on the season.
Charley Niego led the Tar Heel offense with a combined 25 kills on the day, followed by Kaya Merkler who had 23 kills on .432 hitting. Aziah Buckner made her first match appearance since the 2020-21 season, tallying a career-best 18 kills against the Monarchs in the first match of the day.
As a team, Carolina had 18 aces, led by Parker Austin who had seven, with a career-best of six coming against the Rams.
Defensively, freshman libero Maddy May led the team with 39 digs, while Merkler had a team-best six blocks.
How it Happened:
UNC: 3, Old Dominion: 1
The Carolina offense was led by the three Tar Heels with double-digit kills: Buckner (18), Niego (16) and Merkler (11). Defensively, Carolina struggled with serve-receive, allowing a season-high nine aces to the Monarchs.
May tallied 18 digs, just one shy of her career-best, and also had a team-best four aces.
The Tar Heels hit .259 with nine aces, eight blocks and 58 digs in the match.
UNC: 3, VCU: 0
Merkler was a force in the sweep over the Rams, tallying a match-best 12 kills, her sixth straight match with double-digit kills, with a match-best .474 hitting percentage.
On the service line, Austin had six of the team's nine aces, while May, who had 18 digs, tallied her sixth-straight match with double-digit digs.
The Tar Heels out-hit VCU .273-149, while the two teams tied in blocks (4) and digs (50).
Notables/Career Bests:
The Tar Heels finish off the weekend with a 3 p.m. matchup with UMBC on Saturday.
Stay up to date with Carolina Volleyball by following the Tar Heels on Twitter and Instagram.
Charley Niego led the Tar Heel offense with a combined 25 kills on the day, followed by Kaya Merkler who had 23 kills on .432 hitting. Aziah Buckner made her first match appearance since the 2020-21 season, tallying a career-best 18 kills against the Monarchs in the first match of the day.
As a team, Carolina had 18 aces, led by Parker Austin who had seven, with a career-best of six coming against the Rams.
Defensively, freshman libero Maddy May led the team with 39 digs, while Merkler had a team-best six blocks.
How it Happened:
UNC: 3, Old Dominion: 1
The Carolina offense was led by the three Tar Heels with double-digit kills: Buckner (18), Niego (16) and Merkler (11). Defensively, Carolina struggled with serve-receive, allowing a season-high nine aces to the Monarchs.
May tallied 18 digs, just one shy of her career-best, and also had a team-best four aces.
The Tar Heels hit .259 with nine aces, eight blocks and 58 digs in the match.
UNC: 3, VCU: 0
Merkler was a force in the sweep over the Rams, tallying a match-best 12 kills, her sixth straight match with double-digit kills, with a match-best .474 hitting percentage.
On the service line, Austin had six of the team's nine aces, while May, who had 18 digs, tallied her sixth-straight match with double-digit digs.
The Tar Heels out-hit VCU .273-149, while the two teams tied in blocks (4) and digs (50).
Notables/Career Bests:
- Charley Niego tallied her fourth double-double (16 kills, 10 blocks) of the season vs. Old Dominion
- Anita Babic set a new career-best with eight digs vs. Old Dominion
- Aziah Buckner set a new career-best with four block assists vs. Old Dominion and matched her career-best of two aces
- Liv Mogridge matched her career-best of seven kills and four block assists vs. Old Dominion
- Carson Overbeck tallied a career-best four digs vs. Old Dominion
The Tar Heels finish off the weekend with a 3 p.m. matchup with UMBC on Saturday.
Stay up to date with Carolina Volleyball by following the Tar Heels on Twitter and Instagram.
Team Stats
ODU
UNC
Kills
42
63
Errors
14
25
Attempts
119
147
Hitting %
.235
.259
Points
58
80.5
Assists
41
60
Aces
9
9
Blocks
7
8.5
Game Leaders
Kills
18
Aces
2
Blocks
4
Kills
16
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
MH/OH
/ VolleyballMH
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
L/DS
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