In 2014, the North Carolina volleyball team lost just three matches during the entire regular season.
On Saturday, the 2015 squad dropped its fourth.
No. 18 UNC (1-4) failed to claim a set in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Louisville this weekend, falling in straight sets to No. 13 Wisconsin (25-22, 25-20, 25-19) and Minnesota (25-23, 25-22, 25-18).
The Tar Heels had chances throughout the weekend, often starting strong or rallying late. And despite getting outhit in each match, UNC doubled its opponent's block output in each match.
But unforced errors in pivotal points spelled doom for UNC's chances.
"How do you do that? How can you be that close in hitting and dominate them in blocking and still lose?" Coach Joe Sagula said. "We're losing because we're making silly errors at the wrong time."
The Tar Heels were plagued with the same inconsistency that haunted them last weekend — and with No. 2 Stanford coming to town on Thursday, UNC appears hard-pressed to repeat its success from a season ago.
But for Sagula, the point is moot.
"We know last year we dropped three matches and now we've already got four," he said. "(But) we need to think about this year, and this year's a very different team than last year. And as much as we're the same, we're different."
