The North Carolina volleyball team (15-12, 7-9 ACC) lost its third straight match on Friday after losing 3-1 to the Florida State Seminoles (18-9, 10-6 ACC) in a critical road matchup.
What happened?
The Tar Heels got out to an early 3-0 start thanks to two Seminoles’ errors and a service ace from sophomore outside hitter Mabrey Shaffmaster. Florida State caught up to UNC after its quick start out of the gate, however, and the set remained close until the teams hit double-digit points.
With the game tied at 10, the Tar Heels’ rattled off 10 unanswered points to put themselves ahead 20-10. UNC received a lot of help from the Seminoles during this run, as Florida State committed four errors that led to points for the Tar Heels.
UNC generated its own points as well, as senior libero Karenna Wurl recorded two service aces while Shaffmaster accounted for two kills during the run to help the Tar Heels pick up a dominant 25-14 win.
The second set was a game of big runs, as both teams went on several of them. The Seminoles went on the set’s first run, scoring five unanswered points to put themselves ahead 5-1, but the Tar Heels responded with a 6-2 run that tied the score.
Florida State went on an 8-1 run at a critical time in the set, which put the Tar Heels in a substantial 19-12 deficit. Despite a comeback effort, the big deficit proved too deep of a hole for UNC to dig itself out of, and the Tar Heels lost the set, 25-18.
Graduate outside hitter Charley Niego got UNC out to an early lead in the third set by scoring four of the team’s first seven points on kills. The Tar Heels led 8-4 early on, but that lead quickly dissipated.
The score remained even until UNC allowed the Seminoles to score five unanswered with the game tied at 13. Two 3-0 runs helped the Tar Heels get back within striking distance of the Seminoles’ lead late in the set, but UNC couldn’t close the set late and lost 25-23.