Tar Heels down Wolfpack 3-2 in final regular season contest

Four and a half sets into the North Carolina volleyball team’s 3-2 victory on Wednesday against North Carolina State, Wolfpack middle blocker Brie Merriweather went up for a kill. Her attack sailed beyond the baseline, unhindered by any Tar Heel hands as the replay on the big screen confirmed.

But controversially, the Wolfpack were awarded the point, capping off a 6-2 run and bringing the score to 7-6.

“Whenever we have a bad call, we have this thing — ‘the ball never lies,’” said freshman Victoria McPherson, who made 12 kills. “The next point, we know that the ball’s not going to lie. We’re going to get the next point. That gets us through that.”

Whether by way of cosmic justice or improved focus, the Tar Heels did get through it. In a match featuring 40 tied scores and 16 lead changes, No. 24 UNC (25-5, 16-4) managed to put together an 8-1 run when it counted to win the fifth set 15-7 and keep its home record at an unblemished 15-0.

Chaniel Nelson, who led UNC with 16 kills, said her team’s ability to weather the match’s shifts in momentum was proof of the Tar Heels’ progress since they first faced the Wolfpack (21-9, 12-8) in Raleigh on Sept. 14. There, UNC fell in a 3-1 decision.

“There’s absolutely no comparison,” she said. “We had a lot of errors — it was our first ACC game and we were trying to figure out how everyone plays. Playing here felt so much better because now we all know how to play with each other, we’re passing really well. We’re ready for NCAAs.”

UNC conceded the first set in a manner that might have taken the wind out of a less mature team’s sails for good. After leading by as much as 23-19 and looking to close out the set, the relentlessly scrappy Wolfpack fought their way back and finally won the set 28-26.

But the Tar Heels settled in and began to impose their will upon N.C. State in the second set, winning by a decisive 25-17 margin.

The third set was little different as UNC took and maintained an early lead to prevail 25-20.

But the fourth set could have been truly deflating. UNC built up a five-point lead in the middle of the set at 16-11, only to see the Wolfpack erase it and keep going. N.C. State led 24-21, but UNC saved three straight set points to draw level with the Wolfpack. N.C. State still ended up taking the set 26-24.

In the deciding fifth set, UNC jumped out to a 5-1 lead. That was followed by an identical streak for the visitors and was capped by the controversial call at the net.

“We have to ignore it,” Nelson said. “We go through the same thing in practice when we’re playing against each other. We just start arguing, and our coaches are like, ‘In a real game, these calls will be made, and I’ll call it out, It’ll be in, but it won’t matter. So chill out.’”

Coach Joe Sagula said he was most impressed by his team’s proactive approach to the adversity of putting down an N.C. State team that wasn’t going to lose without a fight.

“Earlier in the year, we just fell victim to their game style,” he said. “They play scrappy. How many times did we think the ball was down and they popped it back up? The first time that happened, it deflated us and we lost our focus. This time, we stayed focused and we got back to winning rallies. That was the difference — the way we matured in the trenches.”