University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Baylor
Tar Heels Fall 3-1 To Baylor At UB Classic
August 25, 2007 | Volleyball
Aug. 25, 2007
Buffalo, N.Y. - In the marquee match of the University at Buffalo Classic North Carolina dropped a hard fought 3-1 match to Baylor Saturday in Buffalo, N.Y. Baylor captured game one before Carolina evened the match at 1-1, but the Bears took the final two games to claim the match. The Tar Heels will take on former assistant Jim Lodes and the host Buffalo Bulls at 7 pm Saturday evening.
The Tar Heels dropped game one by a 30-21 margin as they held an early 6-3 lead before falling behind 10-7. Several times during the game North Carolina closed within a point of the Bears at 16-15 and 17-16 when sophomore Christine Vaughen slammed home a pair of kills that appeared to fuel Carolina. Baylor, however, had different ideas as it claimed the next three points to up its lead to three (20-17) en route to the game one victory. Carolina hit just .068 in the initial game while the Bears hit .171.
Game two was a different story for the Tar Heels as they appeared to be clicking on all cylinders. Carolina was the first team to 15 taking a 15-11 lead after Kelly Davies was subbed into the match to serve and UNC picked up a pair of points for the advantage. Carolina was the first team to 25 as well when Courtney Johnston delivered a kill to make the score 25-20. The Bears would equal the Tar Heels the rest of the way as each team tallied five points with Sue Haydel finishing the game with a kill on one of Stephanie Jansma's 41 assists in the match.
Carolina seemed to come out a little flat in game three as Baylor tallied the first six points of the match and held an early 10-3 lead. UNC would battle back throughout the match but were never able to sustain a long run as it dropped game three by a 30-20 margin.
The Tar Heels knew they needed to respond in game four if they were to push the Bears to a fifth game. The first 16 points were split eight apiece before Baylor scored three straight to take an 11-8 advantage. A kill by Bekah Brinkley and a miscue by Baylor pulled the Tar Heels within one, but the comeback was not meant to be as a UNC service error and back-to-back kills from Haley Thomas of Baylor killed the Tar Heels attempt. Baylor finished off the game and the match as it closed out game four 30-22 and took the 3-1 win.
aylor outhit Carolina by quite a large margin as the Bears hit .237 and the Tar Heels were held to a .108 hitting percentage in the defeat. Freshman Sue Haydell led the squad in kills with 12, while Lauren Prussing chipped in 11 and Courtney Johnston added in 10. Haydel tallied 11 digs in the defeat as Brianna Eskola led the Tar Heels for the second consecutive game in digs with 15. Stephanie Jansma doled out 41 assists in the match.
Carolina will take on host Buffalo to close out the University at Buffalo Classic at 7 p.m. Saturday night. The THB.com blog will provide live updates from Alumni Arena throughout the match.
