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University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
LSU
Tar Heels Fall To No. 21 LSU
September 10, 2010 | Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2010
ATON ROUGE, LA. -- No. 21 LSU (7-0) notched a .358 hitting percentage to down North Carolina in straight sets (22-25, 21-25, 15-25) in UNC's first match of the LSU Tiger Classic Friday night from the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. New Orleans native Suzanne Haydel earned four kills to just one error as UNC falls to 4-4 on the year.
Carolina struggled defensively earning a season-low 34 digs. The match was marred by sloppy play from the Tar Heels, who were plagued by eight serve errors. Christine Vaughen notched a team-high seven kills, while Shelbey Bleke and Courtney Johnston chipped in five kills.
"I'm disappointed we couldn't finish tonight," said head coach Joe Sagula. "We have the talent and team to win these big games on the road. We have some important games tomorrow and have to get ready to play."
Carolina turned in their best effort in the first set, but fell by the narrow margin of 25-22. LSU hit at a .317 clip, their lowest of the match, and Carolina posted nearly half of their total match digs in set one. With the set knotted at 19, LSU pushed in front 23-21 and did not look back to claim a 1-0 lead.
LSU mashed a .343 hitting percentage en route to winning set two 25-21. The Tigers trailed 17-14, but used a key 7-0 run to vault in front 21-17 forcing a UNC timeout. Angela Bensend ripped eight kills as the Tar Heels were out-blocked four to two. UNC suffered from three serve errors, despite posting a .220 hitting percentage paced by Haydel's effort from the outside.
The Tigers carried their momentum into the third frame darting in front 13-5 lead, LSU's largest of the match. Carolina was forced to play catch up cutting the lead to as few as six. LSU continued to use their powerful attack committing just three attack errors to win the third set 25-15 and match 3-0.
The Tar Heels will return to action Saturday challenging New Mexico State at 12:30 p.m. CST and Rice at 5:30 p.m. CST.
