"I'd rather lose them now and win them in the NCAA Tournament," he said then.
Sagula's wish came true in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night at Carmichael Auditorium. The Tar Heels took a 3-1 win from South Carolina, a team that defeated UNC in its regular season finale on Saturday.
North Carolina took control early in the first game. With the score tied at three, the Tar Heels went on a 6-0 run highlighted by two diving digs by Laura Greene and three kills by Nicole Reis, who used a combination of overpowering slams and well-placed floaters.
"We knew coming out that we had to get on South Carolina early," Greene said. "It's the NCAAs -- you just have to leave everything out there."
The Gamecocks cut UNC's lead down to three points just once and lost 30-25.
Game two was a different story. The Tar Heels fell behind early and were forced to play catch-up the whole way.
South Carolina hitters Cally Plummer and Niece Curry caught fire, notching seven and six kills, respectively. UNC struggled to put up an effective block with middle hitter Holly Strauss sidelined for most of the game with an injury.
Trailing 25-20, UNC fought back within one. Molly Pyles checked into the game and came up with a crucial block to tie the game at 29, but the Gamecocks took two of the next three points to win 32-30.
"It would have been very easy for them to win that game, up 25-20," Sagula said. "I thought (the comeback) gave us momentum going into the third game."
