University of North Carolina Athletics
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Tar Heels Sweep High Point In NCAA Opener
December 3, 2016 | Volleyball
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| Postgame Infographic |
CHAPEL HILL – #7-seed North Carolina opened the postseason on a high note on Friday night, capturing a 3-0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-23) victory over High Point in the First Round of the 2016 NCAA Volleyball Tournament. The Tar Heels advance to the NCAA Second Round for the 11th time in program history and will take on Coastal Carolina at home on Saturday, Dec. 3, at 6 p.m.
“First of all, I'd like to congratulate High Point on a great season and for winning their conference,” said head coach Joe Sagula. “Tom [Mendoza] and his crew have done an outstanding job in his first year there. Tonight, I thought we came out really strong. I thought we set the momentum early, served tough, and took some really good swings. Both Julia [Scoles] and Taylor [Leath] were controlling the offense and I think that helped us a lot. I also thought Sheila Doyle dug a lot of balls, especially in the second set when High Point made a good run.
“I was really pleased and I think our experience showed early. Overall, we didn't block as well as we typically do, and I thought High Point did a really great job with 12 blocks on the match. I'm happy that we won this match and ready to focus on the next one at hand.”
Carolina's serving and defense kept High Point off balance, as the Tar Heels out-hit the Panthers, .266 to .051 despite being out-blocked 12-4 and totaled seven aces.
“We told our team that we need to be aggressive on the serve,” said Sagula. “Whether it's Julia or Fricano on the jump serve, whoever's out there, we have got to go after it. If you don't serve tough at this point, then every team is good enough to run their offense. We didn't serve as tough in the third set. It means a lot to get those points. The whole team gets excited [on a good serve]. When you serve, it's a bit of a gift to the whole team to gain some momentum.”
Julia Scoles led Carolina on all sides of the ball, narrowly missing a double-double with 16 digs, nine kills and three service aces. Beth Nordhorn was next with eight kills, followed by Taylor Leath with seven.
Libero Sheila Doyle put up 14 digs in the match. Hayley McCorkle bested her career high with seven digs to go with give kills, and Leath also turned in seven digs.
Abigail Curry dished out a total of 21 assists, while freshman Mariah Evans posted 12, and both Tar Heel setters added four digs and an ace.
The Tar Heels, who entered the match ranked fifth in the nation with 3.01 blocks per set totaled just four stuffs in the match, with Taylor Fricano assisting on all four.
Taylor Treacy teamed up on a block in the second set, the 280th of her career, to move into a tie for 10th place all time at Carolina in career block assists. Doyle and Fricano both moved up a spot on their respective season lists, as Doyle moved into seventh with 540 digs on the year while Fricano is now fifth with 134 block assists. Fricano needs just nine more assists before the season ends to become Carolina's all-time single-season blocking leader.
An ace by Curry helped the Tar Heels start the match with a 3-0 lead, and a pair of kills by McCorkle pushed the advantage to 7-2. Carolina continued to cruise, pushing ahead 19-10, on a kill by Leath, and an attack out of bounds closed the set, 25-13. UNC sided out at 84 percent in the opener and was led in kills by Scoles with four.
Three aces in four serves by Scoles spotted Carolina a quick 8-2 lead to begin the second set, and an ace by Evans made it 13-5. The serving prowess continued for the Tar Heels, as an ace by Moseman set up set point, 24-11, and an errant swing by Olivia Barr ended the frame, 25-12. The Panthers struggled on offense in the set, hitting -.133 with seven errors and just three kills.
Carolina won the first three points of the third set, but High Point did not allow the Tar Heels to run away with the third set, never allowing the Tar Heels to lead by more than four. UNC maintained its moderate advantage late in the set, 20-17, but after a timeout the Panthers stormed back to win three straight and tie the score at 20. HPU tied the score again at 21 and at 22, but Carolina never allowed the Panthers to overtake the lead, and a swing into the net finished out the match in three sets, 25-23.
“We were really determined, but I knew after the second set that High Point wouldn't be finished,” said Sagula, “because they're well-coached and have some competitive kids out there. They came out strong and made a competitive third set. We're really fortunate that we made a couple of key plays at the end to help us.”
The Tar Heels will have less than 24 hours to prepare for the next round as Carolina returns to the court on Saturday at 6 p.m. to face Coastal Carolina. The Sun Belt Champions narrowly defeated James Madison, 3-2, earlier in the day to capture their first-ever postseason win.
“I think it's going to be a really tough match,” said Sagula. “Coastal [Carolina] has been here before, they have a couple people who have been here all three years, they have a dominant middle that they go to, and they know how to win…I'm so glad we're playing at home, and we're going to be as prepared as we can be in 24 hours.”
