University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
15-2, 7-0ACC
Notre Dame
15-4, 6-1ACC
Strong Defense Leads No. 8 Carolina To Thrilling Victory
October 15, 2016 | Volleyball
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| Postgame Infographic |
South Bend, Ind. – No. 8 North Carolina escaped South Bend with a victory on Friday night, battling to defeat the Fighting Irish, 3-2 (18-25, 25-19, 25-19, 16-25, 15-13), and secure sole possession of first place in the ACC standings. The Tar Heel back line held firm to post the most digs in a match in five years, as UNC (15-2, 7-0 ACC) handed Notre Dame (15-4, 6-1) its first loss in conference play.
“I'm just really proud of how well our team fought, of our resilience and determination to hang in there,” said head coach Joe Sagula. “I thought that Notre Dame played an outstanding match—some of the best defense we've seen all year—probably one of the top-10 defensive teams in the country. Their transition game was great, and it took a great effort by us to overcome that on the road. The fact that our team was able to hang in there, I couldn't be any prouder.”
The Carolina defense recorded a total of 107 digs in the match, the first 100-dig match for the Tar Heels since 2011 (Oct. 9 vs. Miami). Libero Sheila Doyle put on a show, registering just the second 40-dig match in rally scoring history and the most digs for a Tar Heel since Taylor Rayfield put up 53 against College of Charleston in the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
“There were so many swings that (Notre Dame) took, and every time Sheila just seemed to be in the right place and make the right dig,” said Sagula. “But not only did she make a dig, but she made good quality touches. She kept the team fired up. When they served her, she nailed it, and her serving was fantastic. She put a lot of pressure on them, and just dominated on defense.”
Reigning ACC Player of the Week Julia Scoles dazzled on all sides of the ball, posting personal highs with 23 kills and 21 digs to record the first kills-digs 20-20 by a Tar Heel since Oct. 9, 2011 (Emily McGee vs. Miami).
“I think it's something for her to store away and say, 'Hey, I can do this,'” said Sagula. “What I really liked was after the fourth set, she had made some errors, and she said, 'I'm not going to make those same mistakes,' and she was right on in the fifth set. She's just growing so much as a player every time, and in a match like this to know that she can do that is going to help her and this team.”
Redshirt sophomore Taylor Leath also contributed greatly in all six rotations, matching her career high with 23 digs to go with 15 kills—including the last two of the match—and two aces. Senior Taylor Treacy unleashed 11 kills, while sophomore Madison Laufenberg, making her first appearance since suffering an ankle injury in September, hit .429 with four kills and a block.
Abigail Curry registered a double-double, tallying 32 assists and 10 digs while serving up a pair of aces, and Mariah Evans dished out 22 assists. Carolina put up a total of 10 blocks in the match, including six by Sydnye Fields.
“It was a great battle for both teams tonight,” said Sagula. “I think the crowd got to see a really good volleyball match. A different type of match, one that was won by defense, dig by dig.”
Notre Dame took a 4-0 lead to start the match, but Carolina surged back to tie the score at seven on a kill by Hayley McCorkle. The Fighting Irish pushed back ahead, 15-11, but the Tar Heels once again came back to tie it, knotting the score at 16 with the help of two blocks and a kill by Fields. However, Notre Dame replied to score five straight and finished the set on a 9-2 run to take the opening frame, 25-18. Fields was a bright spot for the Tar Heels in the initial set, going 3-for-4 with two blocks.
The Tar Heels roared back to take an 8-0 lead to start the second. The Fighting Irish cut the deficit to three, 14-11, but Carolina forced right back ahead, 19-11, on an ace by Doyle. The Irish continued to battle, pulling to 20-16, on a block, but the Tar Heels kept their foot on the gas, and a block by Fields and Laufenberg secured the set for UNC, 25-19.
Curry served up an ace to start the third and soon the Tar Heels led 4-0. Four early kills by Leath helped Carolina increase the advantage to 12-6. Notre Dame battled back to pull within two, 19-17, but the Tar Heels forged ahead to win six of the next eight points and close out the third, 25-19.
Unlike the first three sets, neither team put together any kind of run early in the fourth, until Notre Dame won five straight to take a 14-9 lead. Carolina never recovered, as the Irish stretched the advantage to 20-12 on an ace by reigning ACC Freshman of the Week Jemma Yeadon. Back-to-back kills by Scoles kept the Tar Heels alive, but a block ended the frame, as Notre Dame won the fourth, 25-16, and extended the match to five.
Carolina raced ahead 6-1 to open the fifth set, but almost as quickly, Notre Dame fought back to overtake the lead, 7-6. The remainder of the set was a back-and-forth battle, but it was the Tar Heels that would finish on top, as Leath unleashed back-to-back kills out of the back row to close out the fifth, 15-13.
“I loved the way we finished, with two great swings (by Leath) to finish it up,” said Sagula. “I thought it was a huge gutsy swing to take on match point and to go after it. The fact that Abbey had the confidence to set her in the back row, I was really pleasantly surprised to see that happen. The connection was really good there, and Taylor really stepped it up. Her play at the end when we needed a veteran was exactly what we wanted.
“I believed in the team throughout. I was disappointed in our lack of focus in the fourth set, but other than that, it's just a matter of leveling out and not letting the lows get too low. At 13-all, I really had confidence in them, and they really proved it.”
Carolina completes the away trip on Sunday, Oct. 16, with a visit to 2015 ACC Champion Louisville. The match will air on ACC Network Extra at 1 p.m.
