University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Virginia Tech
Carolina Opens Road Trip With 3-1 Win
October 12, 2007 | Volleyball
Oct. 12, 2007
Blacksburg, Va. - Christine Vaughen led the way for the Tar Heels in Carolina's 3-1 (30-24, 22-30, 30-28, 30-27) road win over Virginia Tech. Vaughen picked up 15 kills, hitting a match-high .520 and tallied seven blocks as Carolina held off the Hokies to improve to 8-9 overall and 4-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Tar Heels started out slow in game one as Virginia Tech picked up the first five points of the match. Carolina responded though battling back for the 30-24 opening game win, its fourth consecutive game one victory. Megan Owens and Lauren Prussing provided the offensive firepower for the Tar Heels picking up five kills apiece in the win. Carolina hit .429 in the game as Christine Vaughen chipped in four kills while hitting a team-high .800.
Any time the Hokies attempted to make a run the Tar Heel defense was there to pick up a sideout. Carolina converted 17 of 24 (70%) sideout opportunities in game one, most coming after the initial burst from Virginia Tech. The Tar Heels sealed the deal late earning six of the final seven points for the 30-24 win as Owens tallied three of her kills.
The Hokies evened the match at one game apiece after claiming a 30-22 game two victory on the back of a stifling defense. Carolina committed more errors than recorded kills in the game as it hit -.038. Virginia Tech recorded five blocks in the match but forced the Tar Heels into numerous second opportunities after knocking down Carolina's initial attacks. Carolina was down by as many as eight points (22-14) late in the match before rattling off another run, this time of the five point variety, to pull the game to within three (22-19). It would be as close as the Tar Heels would get before the Hokies pulled away to win the game and even the match.
Game three was more of the same between the Hokies and Tar Heels as the lead was tied 10 times, but only changed hands on three different occasions. A big turning point in the game occurred when Virginia Tech took advantage of back-to-back Carolina errors to take a 12-10 lead. The Hokies looked to be taking a 2-1 lead before Carolina battled back late in the game evening the score at 26-26. Carolina ran off a 14-7 run to cap off its comeback and claim the thrilling 30-28 win. Vaughen came on strong in the latter third of the game to give Carolina a push after the Tar Heels struggled most of the game.
Carolina outhit the Hokies in game three picking up 19 kills with a .255 hitting percentage to Virginia Tech's 16 kills and .238 percentage. The Tar Heels' sideout percentage bounced back over the 50% mark after dipping to 46% in the game two defeat. Carolina converted 57% of its potential sideouts in game three, especially late, to claim the win and take a game lead.
The Tar Heels were able to seal the deal in the fourth game as Carolina closed out the match with a 30-27 win. Carolina held off a late charge from the host Hokies late in the game before claiming the match. The Tar Heels had a 5-2 run late in the game to take a 26-21 lead via a Megan Owens kill. Virginia Tech answered by pulling within two points at 28-26 and 29-27 before taking advantage of an error for the victory.
Christine Vaughen led the charge for the Tar Heels on the night picking up 15 kills to lead the team, while hitting a remarkable .520 with just two attack errors on the night. Chipping in with 13 kills apiece were Lauren Prussing and Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland. Also recording double-digits in kills was Megan Owens who tallied 11 on the night. Brianna Eskola recorded a season-high 34 digs in the win as she led the match and reached the 30 dig mark for the second time this season. Setter Stephanie Jansma played well Friday night with a season-high 58 assists, falling just short of 60 assists.
The Tar Heels will have Saturday off before traveling to Charlottesville, Va. to take on the Virginia Cavaliers at 1 p.m.
