UNC falls to N.C. State, rebounds against Ohio

The North Carolina volleyball team has two overarching goals this season — never lose twice in a row and defend its home, Carmichael Arena.

Though the team was successful in both aspects this weekend, it started off conference play Friday with what assistant coach Tyler Adams called one of the worst matches the team has played all season.

The Tar Heels (9-2, 0-1) fell to N.C. State (10-1, 1-0) 3-1 on Friday night in Raleigh in a match plagued by unforced errors and weak hitting and blocking.

“We didn’t do a lot well in the first two sets, so blocking was really not the biggest of our worries — really, it was hitting,” head coach Joe Sagula said.

“We want to block well, but really what we can control is how we hit. And that we didn’t do a good job of tonight.”

The Tar Heels registered 31 attack errors and just 10 blocks the against the Wolfpack, the most telling statistics of Sagula’s concern.

Sagula said the Tar Heels would walk back into Carmichael for Saturday’s match against Ohio a little wounded.

But the team rebounded to defeat the Bobcats in a dramatic five-set match — 17-25, 25-16, 25-20, 14-25, 15-8.

The match featured 15 ties and six lead changes, and senior outside hitter Emily McGee finished off the Bobcats with a kill for the winning point in the fifth set.

“I thought it was a great team win. We went to our bench early, and it paid off,” Adams said of Saturday’s match.

One of those early substitutions was Sagula’s decision to put sophomore outside hitter Lauren Adkins into the game.

UNC

“When he subbed me in, we were down and we knew we had to get back somehow,” Adkins said.
“That’s kind of my position — it was last year … When I have to go in, I know what I have to do.”

Sophomore opposite hitter Chaniel Nelson and McGee also contributed 13 and 15 kills, respectively. Freshman middle blocker Victoria McPherson added nine.

“We wanted to completely forget (Friday) night and just do our best on our court and play how we normally play — like the Carolina volleyball way,” Nelson said. “So I think we did that.”

McGee, the team’s captain, commended her team’s perseverance as it avoided dropping consecutive games.

“I’m really proud of how our team was able to bounce back,” she said.

“It’s all about how you come back from adversity and fight back. I think it was really exciting to have a lot of people contribute — that was the most important thing that happened.”

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.