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The Daily Tar Heel

Volleyball team sweeps Bobcat Invitational

Character and confidence are what coach Joe Sagula said his team showed this past weekend in Athens, Ohio, after the No. 24 North Carolina volleyball squad swept the competition and came away with the title at the annual Bobcat Invitational.

“It gave us a lot of confidence that this team can do some great things this year,” Sagula said.

The Tar Heels went 3-0 for the second weekend in a row, improving to 6-0 on the season and clinching their second straight tournament title after winning the Blue Raider Bash the previous weekend in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Starting off the weekend strong, the Tar Heels flew out of the gate with a 3-0 sweep of Dayton in the first matchup Friday morning, thanks to an impressive 12 kills and six digs from newcomer Jovana Bjelica, a graduate student who previously played for Florida International.

“I really liked the tenacity and the experience that Jovana brought in,” Sagula said.

North Carolina won the three sets 25-14, 25-19, and 25-23.

“We were able to keep pressure on them, take the lead early and never let Dayton back in the match,” he said.

Game two proved to the be the defining moment of the weekend for Sagula’s squad, falling behind by two sets to Ohio before roaring back to take the next three sets in front of a packed crowd of 3,874 people on Ohio’s home court.

“One of our team goals is to always win the third game, and we won the third game, and that’s when it started,” sophomore outside hitter Leigh Andrew said. “After we won the fourth game, there was no doubt we were going to win the fifth,” she said.

North Carolina lost the first two sets 23-25 and 16-25, which initially concerned the group.

“We had some doubts creep in,” Sagula said.

Citing problems with passing in the first two sets, Sagula said it took some time to settle down and put pressure on Ohio.

“I give this team a lot of credit, they came out determined to win the third set. We really built up our confidence and were able to play our game,” he said.

Taking that third set 25-18 sparked the comeback, followed by 25-22 and 15-8 wins to seal the victory.

Redshirt freshman Hayley McCorkle made her first start for North Carolina in the final game of the tournament in which she posted seven kills and a block as the Tar Heels swept Cincinnati 25-14, 25-14, and 25-17 for the tournament title.

“This was a big weekend for us, and I feel like this was one weekend to prove how we could work through adversity and come together as a team, and it really showed during the Ohio game,” said McCorkle.

And her coach agreed.

“Great comeback, great courage and great character by this team in a tough environment,” Sagula said. “I’m just so proud of how they stayed together and stayed the course.”

sports@dailytarheel.com

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