Taylor Treacy and Hayley McCorkle shine in UNC volleyball sweep

The pre-game locker room music began to blare and the North Carolina volleyball team began to dance. Per usual, most eyes were on Taylor Treacy.

Arguably the best dancer on the team, Treacy participated in the pre-game ritual, getting her and her teammates excited for the upcoming match with Albany that was just minutes away.

Last year — a redshirt who didn’t compete — Treacy was free to dance for as long, or as excitedly as she wanted. If she wanted to expel all of her physical energy before the contest ever began, she was free to do so.

But this season, Treacy doesn’t twerk, as she describes it, like she used to.

Now a competitor on the court who is quickly asserting her offensive prowess, Treacy takes a different approach to the beginning of matches.

“Honestly I don’t dance as hard, I guess,” she said.

“I’m trying to keep a better focus and that sort of stuff. I’m a little bit more serious before matches.”

That concentration was evident this weekend in the Carolina Classic, as she made her home debut. The No. 18 Tar Heels handily defeated George Washington, James Madison and Albany each by 3-0 scores. Now with a 9-0 record on the season, UNC is off to its best start in over three decades.

Treacy was selected to the All-Tournament team and registered 13 kills on the weekend, eight against James Madison and five against Albany.

She and fellow redshirt freshman Hayley McCorkle combined for 19 kills as they played for the first time at home together — something coach Joe Sagula was eager to see.

“(Treacy’s) just kind of wiry up there. She has a swing. She surprises people the way she scores points and I could not be any happier,” he said.

“(McCorkle’s) learning the game … She’s so athletic, she’s just starting to scratch the surface of where she can go.”

The decision to redshirt was made in an effort to allot them a season to train and develop more as players. The two of them agreed that it was an emotional experience that brought them closer together.

“Not being able to play for a whole year was— I don’t know — it kinda took a tear on your confidence,” Treacy said.

“This year it’s like coming back and showing that you have something to prove. Just getting the chance to play is like a whole new thing — starting over.”

Saturday, when they took the court side by side sporting jerseys just one number apart and matching headbands — Treacy’s navy, McCorkle’s grey — the duo’s renewed sense of confidence was clear.

And that was all they needed.

“We were both redshirts, we were both excited to get onto the court,” McCorkle said.

She looked to her friend and smiled.

“Now when we’re finally out there, it’s like ‘Hey girl. Let’s go get it.’’’

sports@dailytarheel.com