Duke attacks UNC winning streak in volleyball

DURHAM - Four North Carolina volleyball players hit career highs Thursday.

But in the one statistic they cared about, the Tar Heels came short, falling to Duke in five closely contested games at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Freshman Brianna Eskola had 28 digs, senior Camilla Ihenetu had 22 and senior Taylor Rayfield had 29 - all career marks.

And senior Dani Nyenhuis scored a career high of 29 kills.

"No one really played their best," said Nyenhuis. "It really wasn't as much (of a contested match) as it should have been."

Eskola expressed the situation simply.

"It's always hard to lose to a rival, especially in five games," she said.

But just because the team was out of sync did not mean that it was entirely out of the game.

"I only felt we were out of the game in the third game," said Coach Joe Sagula.

"Our mindset was that we had three good days of practice to put into action and to win. And that didn't happen."

Sagula noted that the Tar Heels had to come from behind in each game. UNC had to fight tooth and nail to get every point and to stop every point, overcoming multiple ties and long Duke runs.

"It's a credit that we kept fighting," he said.

"I'm ashamed of the way we played in the third game. But I'm impressed with how we came back in the fourth game."

The Tar Heels lost 30-22 in game three but overcame nine different ties to beat the Blue Devils 30-27 in the fourth frame.

"In game four we really came back and never gave up," Eskola said.

Sagula said the only time he felt like the team was in control was in the second game, since the team had some control and momentum on the court.

"We did not play our best tonight," he said.

"(But) I liked the way we played defense. We need to do a better job blocking at the left front positions. We had to dig more, since the blocks were not doing the job."

He also added that the team's service was not up to par.

"We only had three serving aces," he said, adding that two errors were committed in the first game.

This was the team's first ACC loss this season and its first loss to Duke since Nov. 17, 1999.

North Carolina had a 11-game winning streak against the Blue Devils coming into Thursday's match. They are now 48-40 against their Tobacco Road foes.

But, Nyenhuis said, the next game against Duke will be even more important, especially since it will be in Carmichael Auditorium.

 

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.