University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Western Kentucky
Tar Heels Drop Match To Western Kentucky, 3-1
September 8, 2007 | Volleyball
Sept. 8, 2007
Chapel Hill, N.C. - Carolina fell behind early in its match Saturday against Western Kentucky and was never able to climb out of the early deficit, losing 3-1. Christine Vaughen accounted for 14 points in the match, the only Tar Heel in double-figures as Carolina drops to 3-5 on the year. Carolina will close out the Carolina Classic at 7 p.m. on Saturday against American.
The Tar Heels starterd out a little rough as they found themselves down 2-0 after the first two games. A day after hitting a season-high .323, the Tar Heels hit .111 and .139 in the initial pair of games. Game one was close from the get go as the score was tied five times and the lead changed hands three times. A Western Kentucky attack error gave UNC an 18-17, unfortunately it would be Carolina's last lead of the game. The Lady Toppers would go on and control the game from that point outscoring the Tar Heels 12-8 for the 30-26 victory.
Western Kentucky kept it rolling in game two hitting a match-high .412 in the game. Carolina trailed throughout game two as WKU cruised to the 30-21 victory, despite the Tar Heels picking up six of the final 10 points.
After the 10 minute break, the Tar Heels came out firing in game three as they jumped out to a 7-2 lead forcing a Western Kentucky timeout. The Lady Toppers' timeout appeared to work as they claimed the next two points which only fueled Carolina to lenghten its lead. Carolina hit .467 in game three and committed just one attack error in the game. The Carmichael faithful were drawn into the game getting extra loud in support for their Tar Heels comeback effort. Carolina took game three 30-19 as it never trailed in the game.
Game four was the definition of a back-and-forth affair as the score was tied 18 times and the lead changed hands six. The momentum from game three seemed to carry over with the Tar Heels into game four. A kill be Heather Brooks put Carolina up by one at 16-15 in a game that felt like it would lean the Tar Heels way. After a service error by Carolina evened the score at 20-20, Western Kentucky seemed to gain an advantage picking up the next two points to gain a lead that it would not lose. WKU outscored UNC 5-2 to take a 27-22 lead before a Carolina timeout stopped the action. The Tar Heels cut the lead to two (28-26) following the timeout but were unable to finish the comeback as they fell 30-26 in the game and 3-1 in the match.
The loss was Carolina's fourth in its last five matches as the Tar Heels fall to 3-5 on the year. The Tar Heels will look for a chance to pick up a winning record in the Carolina Classic when they face American at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
