University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Villanova
Tar Heels Claim Home Opener 3-2
September 7, 2007 | Volleyball
Sept. 7, 2007
Chapel Hill, N.C. - The North Carolina volleyball team found itself in a very familiar situation Friday night in Carmichael Auditorium with a 2-1 advantage after three games over visiting Villanova. The Tar Heels were unable to close out the match in four but bounced back in game five to claim the win and improve to 3-4 on the young season. UNC will take on Western Kentucky (noon) and American (7 p.m.) on Saturday.
The Tar Heels opened with an impressive game one win taking a 30-23 decision. Ashley Board began serving for Carolina in its first home match of the season and fueled the Tar Heels to a quick 5-0 lead. Villanova could never close the deficit as Carolina led by no less than five points throughout the entirety of the game, claiming the dominant 30-23 victory. The Tar Heels hit an incredible .452 in the game.
Game two was a different story as Villanova led most of the game, which was a very tightly contested game. The game was tied several times, including at its latest point at 27-27. The Wildcats outscored Carolina 3-1 down the stretch to win game two 30-28 and even the match at 1-1.
Game three started out eerily similar to game two as neither team could gain an advantage. The game was tied four times as there was only one lead change. The lead change came early on when Christine Vaughen slammed home a kill to give Carolina a 7-6 advantage. The Tar Heels never looked back in claiming an impressive 30-21 win to go up 2-1.
Carolina was in a similar situation a week ago as it held a 2-1 advantage over Purdue and Dayton at the Mortar Board Premier but were unable to close out the matches, dropping both 3-2. Villanova evened the match at two games apiece with a 30-22 game four victory to force a fifth and final game. The Tar Heels hit a match-low .184 in a losing effort, their only percentage below .290 on the night.
Sue Haydel got the Tar Heels going to begin game five serving three consecutive points for Carolina as Villanova committed three errors in a row. Carolina jumped out to a 6-3 lead and would not be denied the victory. Ashley Board served six consecutive points for the Tar Heels in the game to push the team towards the victory. Villanova tried to break Board's concentration with a pair of timeouts but it could not be done as the Tar Heels claimed the 15-8 game five win to take the match 3-2.
Carolina hit a season-best .323 in the match as five different players reached double-figures in kills, led by Lauren Prussing's 18. Junior Stephanie Jansma set up a majority of those kills en route to picking up 52 assists on the night. Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland hit a ridiculous .769 in the match picking up 10 kills in just 13 attempts for the victorious Tar Heels.
Carolina will take on Western Kentucky on Saturday at noon in the fourth match of the Carolina Classic. The match can be seen on ACC Select.
