University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Maryland
Carolina Drops Third Straight Match
September 28, 2007 | Volleyball
Sept. 28, 2007
College Park, Md. - The Tar Heels were coming off back-to-back 3-1 losses at home and were looking to get off to a quick start at Maryland Friday night, but Carolina found itself down 2-0 after the opening two games en route to a 3-1 defeat. The Tar Heels took game three, 30-28, but could not even the match at 2-2 as the host Terrapins claimed the ACC match 3-1. Carolina falls to 5-8 on the year and 1-3 in ACC play as it will travel to Chestnut Hill, Mass. to take on Boston College at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 30.
Game one saw the Terrapins and Tar Heels battle through the opening points as both teams were tied at 11-11 before Maryland reeled off four consecutive points to take a 15-11 advantage that it would not relinquish. The Terrapins refused to let Carolina back into the game as they went on to the 30-26 opening game win. Neither team hit particularly well in game one as the Tar Heels were held to a .131 hitting percentage and the Terrapins posted just a .198 percentage.
The momentum from game one carried over into game two for the Terrapins as they claimed 10 of the opening 14 points forcing the Tar Heels into a very early timeout. Carolina was able to cut the deficit to four later in the game when Lauren Prussing picked up a kill to pull the score to 18-14 after the Tar Heels scored three out of four points. The run would not be enough as it just seemed to fuel the Terrapins who made the match 2-0 with a 30-22 game two win.
Coach Joe Sagula mixed things up in the third game sending out Sue Haydel, Courtney Handy and Bekah Brinkley looking for a spark. The teams traded points throughout the initial part of game three as the score was even at 10-10 and 11-11 before the Tar Heels took over. Carolina went on a 6-3 run to take a 17-14 lead as Brinkley, Handy, Christine Vaughen and Megan Owens all claimed kills for the Tar Heels. Back-to-back kills from Vaughen and Owens later in the game put the Tar Heels one point from claiming the third game at 29-25 but the Terrapins would not go quietly. Maryland pulled the game to one point at 29-28 before Owens picked up one of her match-high 18 kills for the 30-28 win.
Sagula stuck with the hot lineup in game four as the Tar Heels picked up the opening two points in the game. The momentum would not last long as Maryland was the first to 10 as it took a 10-6 lead en route to a 30-22 game four victory for the 3-1 match win.
The loss was Carolina's third straight by a 3-1 margin as it falls to 5-8 on the year and 1-3 in ACC action. The Tar Heels were led by Owens who picked up 18 kills on the night but hit just .092 as a result of 12 errors. Senior Bekah Brinkley, who was celebrating her birthday on Friday, finished second on the squad with eight kills as Vaughen and Haydel chipped in six kills apiece. Carolina finished the night hitting .090, its second-lowest output of the 2007 season. Brianna Eskola finished with 27 digs, her sixth straight match with at least 20 digs. Owens and setter Stephanie Jansma each recorded double-doubles in the match as Owens added 14 digs to her 18 kills and Jansma was equal to the task with 14 digs and 40 assists.
Carolina will look to snap its losing streak on Sunday when it travels north to take on Boston College at 1 p.m. The Tar Heels hold an unblemished 4-0 all-time record against the Eagles with a pair of sweeps in 2006.
