The North Carolina volleyball team swept Duke in straight sets, 3-0, on Thursday night to move into a tie for second place in the ACC standings with Georgia Tech. The Tar Heels, led by senior Mia Fradenburg and reigning ACC player of the week Lauren Harrison, completed a season sweep over the Blue Devils with the victory and have now won 12 of their last 14 matches.
What happened?
The Blue Devils jumped ahead to a quick 6-1 lead in the first set following a series of North Carolina attacking errors. The Tar Heels hit hard but struggled to find their mark to start the match. Following this initial attack from Duke, North Carolina got off to a hot streak as the middle of the game approached, tying it at 13.
First-year Skyy Howard led the way with six kills in the set, and UNC maintained its poise to win through a kill from Howard in a tight first set that was ultimately decided by only two points, 26-24.
The second set saw a reversal of the roles, with North Carolina jumping out to score the first point of the set off of an attacking error by Duke. The Tar Heels conceded their lead only a single time in this set, falling behind the Blue Devils 2-1 in the game's early stages.
Following this initial deficit, UNC pulled away to their largest lead of the set, 15-8. Duke battled back to cut the deficit to one after a series of errors from North Carolina. Despite the Blue Devil comeback, the Tar Heels maintained confidence and pulled away to a 25-20 victory.
The early stages of the third set saw further adversity for North Carolina to overcome, with multiple lead changes occurring before either team reached 10 points. Some major hustle from Fradenburg and high energy attacking from the Tar Heels carried them through a close set where the Blue Devils consistently stayed within one point.
Holding a 19-17 lead, North Carolina flipped the switch in the late stages of the game, playing its most focused volleyball of the night and pulling away to a 25-20 victory to complete the 3-0 sweep.
