University of North Carolina Athletics
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Tennessee
Carolina Rallies Past Tennessee 3-2
September 11, 2009 | Volleyball
Sept. 11, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina rallied to beat Tennessee in five sets Friday night in front of 918 fans at the Dean E. Smith Center in their first match of the Carolina Classic. The Tar Heels dropped the first two sets 20-25 and 21-25, but won the next three 25-19, 25-21 and 16-14. Carolina improves to 4-3 on the season, 2-1 in five set matches, as Tennessee falls to 5-2. Carolina has now played in three five set matches and has won two of those contests after dropping the first two sets.
Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland's match-high 17 kills and Erica Behm's 59 assists led the Tar Heels. Behm's assist total is a new career high as Hanson-Tuntland tied her previous career high with 17 kills. Branagan Fuller added 15 kills, Heather Brooks 12 and freshmen Heather Henry (10) and Emily McGee (13). Libero Kaylie Gibson paced the defense with 21 digs as the Heels have won three straight games.
The Tar Heels got off to a slow start as the Vols jumped out to a 4-0 before a Branagan Fuller kill. Carolina responded with three straight points to knot the score at four. Tennessee answered with a 6-0 run to stretch the lead to 10-4. Carolina answered back to cut the lead to two at 15-13, but the Vols proved too be too much. The Vols Nikki Fuller notched six kills in the first set and the Vols won 25-20. Carolina was plagued by four serve errors in the first set, while Tennessee recorded three serve aces. Fuller's five kills paced the Heels.
The second set featured multiple lead changes. The Heels biggest lead was three at 10-7 behind a pair of Volunteer attack errors and Hanson-Tuntland kills. Fowler and Emily Steinbeck led the Tennessee offense to retake the lead at 13-12. Kelsey Mahoney added two service aces as the Vols took the second set 25-21.
In the third frame the Heels added another offensive punch courtesy of Emily McGee. The Tar Heels registered 20 kills in the set as 16 of the attacks were assisted by Behm. Kaylie Gibson replaced Aleksandra Georgieva at libero, but the Heels' offense took off in the third frame. Carolina hit .405 in the set behind six Hanson-Tuntland kills and five from McGee. The Heels never lost the lead in the third and won the set 25-19.
The Tar Heel offense continued to play strong in the fourth set registering 15 kills to the Volunteers' seven. Tennessee recorded eight blocks in the fourth frame, but Hanson-Tuntland still was able to hit at a .429 clip in the set. Carolina led the entire set, but the score was knotted at 17 before a timely Joe Sagula timeout. The Heels came out of the break strong and claimed the fourth frame 25-21.
The fifth and final set proved to be the closest. The final frame saw seven tie scores and two lead changes before the Heels took the set and match 16-14. The Vols tied the score at 14 before Heather Henry registered her 10th kill of the game, while posting a match-high .562 hitting percentage. Hanson-Tuntland sealed the victory with her 17th kill as the Heels won the match 3-2.
Carolina is now 5-9 all-time against Tennessee. The Vols won the last meeting between the two schools on Sept. 2, 2006 3-0. Carolina returns to action tomorrow morning against Marshall at 10:00 a.m. and Colorado State at 7:30 p.m.
