No. 19 Volleyball Triumphs Over James Madison, 3-1

Thursday, September 3

Chapel Hill, N.C.

7:00 PM

North Carolina

3-0,0-0ACC

James Madison

2-1,0-0Sun Belt

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
James Madison	25	21	18	19	1
North Carolina	21	25	25	25	3

Photo by: DALTON WAINSCOTT

September 3, 2026 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Megan Smith

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — No. 19 Carolina volleyball (3-0) remains undefeated with a 3-1 win Thursday evening over JMU (2-1) in Carmichael Arena (21-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-19). This was the first of the Tar Heels' two-game series they are hosting in Chapel Hill, featuring the Dukes and Colorado State.

"We got tested, and we responded in a really big way," head coach Mike Schall said. "I think it was the way we responded that I loved. We didn't get on any magical scoring runs. We just kept punching back, and that's what you have to do against a team like that."

Graduate opposite hitter Chelsea Thorpe led the offensive front for UNC with 14 kills. Senior outside Safi Hampton was not far behind with 13 of her own. Bridget Malone racked up a double-double with 11 kills to go along with her 11 digs. North Carolina hit .336 on the night. The last time the Tar Heels had three players with 10+ kills was against Coastal Carolina last season.

Most of the setting responsibility was in the hands of senior setter Zoe Behrendt, who led all players with 31 assists. Behrendt kept the attacking balanced, and also dug up 11 balls in the back court. Sophomore Sienna Cozza and junior Emily Bobbitt helped with 11 and 8 assists, respectively.

The Tar Heels struggled to find their rhythm early in the match. JMU's Ayen Nhial applied lethal pressure from behind the service line for a 5-0 run, giving Carolina's back row a run for its money. Schall elected to call a timeout down 10-7, icing Nhial and giving UNC a chance to work out the early kinks.

Carolina never quite made it out of the hole they created, though. The Dukes took a six-point lead midway through the set. Then, Carolina narrowed the margin, but it wasn't enough, as JMU ended up on top of set one, 25-21. Nearly half of the Dukes' points were accumulated through a combination of attacking and service errors by North Carolina, which lost its first set of the year.

The second set saw a more established UNC presence with far fewer mishaps to begin. Safi Hampton and Bridget Malone each contributed three kills at the pin to start off the set, giving North Carolina a 9-5 advantage. However, six unanswered points by JMU changed both the game's momentum and the leading team.

Once the Dukes gained an 11-9 edge, it became a back-and-forth affair. That is, until Carolina earned the lead back at 22-21 off a kill that landed just beyond the 10-foot-line from Chelsea Thorpe. She and graduate middle blocker Lauren Schutter formed a formidable front at the tape, next garnering a pair of explosive blocks on back-to-back rallies.

"I was going in. [Schall] was like, 'Go win it,'" Thorpe said. "That was all the fuel I needed."

And that she did. On set point, as 1,500 students shouted "U. N. C.," freshman libero Carly Markham found Thorpe on the right side. The Chicago native finished the exclamation point on the "C," and North Carolina evened the match at one set a piece, winning the second set, 25-21.

Again, the Tar Heels found themselves with a sizable lead to start play. Junior middle blocker Jackie Taylor led that effort with an ace and a trio of kills assisted by Behrendt. UNC led, 13-7.

With a variety of offensive threats, North Carolina continued to steamroll over JMU. The Tar Heels took a dominant 22-13 lead — the largest point differential of the game — and kept the Dukes out of system.

And though JMU worked to crawl back — even causing a Schall timeout — Carolina completed the third set off a Dukes' missed serve. The frame culminated in a 25-18 win, giving the team in blue a 2-1 match advantage. Taylor had five of her nine total kills in the set.

After three sets of action, both squads had the chance to thoroughly assess their opponent. This fourth frame was characterized by scrappy defense and lengthy rallies, with neither team wanting to let the striped ball hit its side of the court.

The pendulum finally started to swing when UNC amassed a 12-8 edge, pulling away as the less error-prone team. But, it was still an evenly-matched duel on Thursday; the gap never extended past six points in the fourth set.

And it was by six points exactly that the Tar Heels won the fourth and final frame. Helping with that final set was junior right side attacker Laynie Smith, who knocked down six of her nine kills in the frame.

Despite dropping the opening set, UNC found its way back, winning three straight sets and its third contest of the season, 3-1.

"I think this is the first time we've really felt pushed back," Taylor said, "and we really learned how to punch back in those moments."

The victory signifies a seventh straight Carolina win over JMU, and a third consecutive season with a 3-0 start.

UNC will be back in Carmichael on Friday at 6 p.m. to take on Colorado State before hitting the road for Lexington to battle No. 3 Kentucky — the reigning national runner-up — on Wednesday evening. JMU and Colorado State will continue the Chapel Hill series at noon on Saturday.