Volleyball Rallies, Tops Clemson

Sure, the North Carolina volleyball team was 4-0 in the ACC entering its match Tuesday night against a Clemson team still without a conference win this year.

But UNC didn't dominate the Tigers. Instead, the Tar Heels dropped the first game before rallying to a hard-fought

3-1 victory at Carmichael Auditorium.

Outside hitter Laura Greene led North Carolina (12-3, 5-0 in the ACC) with 17 kills, while setter Eve Rackham killed 10 of 15 attempts and dished out 33 assists against Clemson (4-8, 0-5).

"I thought Clemson played a good match," UNC coach Joe Sagula said. "I think early in the match we were a little one-dimensional.

"We were going to our outside hitters -- who did a great job -- but we need to have a little more balance."

The Tar Heels gained a 17-12 lead in the first game and appeared to be cruising. But UNC setter Malaika Underwood committed three errors in the next five points, and a Marija Zoric spike beat a diving Nicole Reis to put Clemson ahead 19-17.

Eventually, the game would be tied at 29, but Clemson's Jodi Steffes slammed a kill on a slide play and UNC couldn't handle Leslie Finn's ensuing serve.

North Carolina needed to figure out a way to counter Clemson's blockers, who were giving outside hitters Greene and Reis fits.

"We were a little out of sync today," Rackham said. "Normally we go a lot to Nicole and Laura, but tonight their middle blockers were starting to cheat over a little bit and camp out on them."

And as the match went on, the Tar Heels counted more and more on their middle hitters, who combined for 16 kills.

After UNC battled back from a 12-7 deficit to win the second game going away, the Tigers reduced their errors and hung with the Tar Heels in the third game. But Katie Wright tomahawked her first kill of the night to put UNC up 28-27, and her team would score the next two points to take the swing game.

The Tar Heels quickly finished Clemson in the fourth game, winning 30-17 to take the match.

"At tight points in the match, we need to still be stable, and we haven't been," Clemson coach Jolene Jordan Hoover said. "(The Tar Heels) can play a lot of different people, which I think is going to benefit them in the long run."

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.