University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Notre Dame
Carolina Embarks On Final 2017 Road Trip
November 15, 2017 | Volleyball
CHAPEL HILL -Â North Carolina closes the 2017 regular season with a four-match road trip that begins this weekend. The Tar Heels open against Notre Dame on Friday, Nov. 17, then head to Louisville on Sunday afternoon. The Tar Heels will continue on to Wake Forest on Wednesday afternoon, before concluding the regular season at rival Duke on Friday, Nov. 24.
Carolina hits the road riding a four-match winning streak after the Tar Heels completed a perfect 10-0 ACC home season this past weekend. Wins this weekend could bolster the Tar Heels' postseason chances, with Louisville (#25) and Notre Dame (#40) both ranked ahead of them in the RPI. Louisville is tied with NC State (its Friday opponent) and Pittsburgh for first place in the ACC standings, three matches ahead of Carolina. The Cardinals entered the AVCA Coaches Poll for the first time this week, receiving the 32nd-most votes in the nation.
Friday, Nov. 17Â // 7Â p.m.Â
North Carolina (14-10, 11-5 ACC) at Notre Dame (19-8, 9-7 ACC)
Where:Â Purcell Pavilion
Tickets: $5 adults, $3 youth | Buy Online
Watch:Â ACC Network Extra
Stats:Â GameTracker
Sunday, Nov. 19Â // 1 p.m.Â
North Carolina (14-10, 11-5) at Louisville (20-6, 14-2)
Where:Â Cardinal Arena
Tickets: SOLD OUT | Ticketmaster
Watch:Â ACC Network Extra
Stats:Â UNCLiveStats.com
Against the Field
Carolina narrowly leads the all-time series with Notre Dame, 6-5, but has dominated since the Fighting Irish joined the ACC, winning all five contests since 2013, four of which were during ACC play. Notre Dame won five of the previous six meetings between 1984 and 2003, with Carolina's first victory over the Irish coming at home on Oct. 18, 1998.
The Tar Heels gritted out a hard-fought road victory over the Irish last season, battling to a 15-13 victory in the fifth set to move to 7-0 in conference play. Julia Scoles posted the first kills-digs 20-20 in five years with 23 kills and 21 digs, Taylor Leath tallied a career-high 23 digs to go with 15 kills, while senior libero Sheila Doyle put up the second-most digs in rally-scoring history with 40. The defensive battle marked UNC's first 100-dig match since 2011, with a total of 107 against the scrappy Irish.
North Carolina holds an 8-3 lead over the all-time series with Louisville, including a perfect 4-0 mark in ACC play. UNC is 3-1 in Louisville and has not lost to the Cardinals since 1992. The Tar Heels erased an 0-2 deficit to defeat U of L earlier this season in Carolina's home opener to capture their first ACC victory of the season.
Happy at Home
North Carolina has been extremely successful in the friendly confines of Carmichael Arena, going 13-1 at home this season (including one match at the Dean E. Smith Center) and a perfect 10-0 during ACC play. The Tar Heels, whose only home loss last season came at the hands of No. 5 Minnesota, have not dropped an ACC match at home since falling 3-2 to No. 18 Florida State on Oct. 16, 2015. UNC closed the 2017 home season on a 26-match home ACC winning streak. UNC is 64-2 in ACC home matches since October, 2011. UNC has not lost more-than-one ACC home match in a season since 2009, when the Tar Heels dropped back-to-back contests against Clemson and Georgia Tech on Halloween weekend.
UNC has always been strong at home, going 460-140 all time in Chapel Hill, including an impressive 131-18 (.879) mark since 2008. The Tar Heels have recorded eight perfect home seasons, with two over the past six years. UNC has only lost more-than-one home match in one of the past six seasons. Carolina's best home season came back in 2002, when UNC went 18-0 at home en route to its first-ever NCAA Regionals appearance.
Nordhorn Hitting High
Senior middle hitter Beth Nordhorn has exploded offensively this season, recording double-digit kills in 11 matches, hitting .400 or higher in nine of those 11. Nordhorn has hit at least .500 with double-digit kills seven times, including hitting .667 with 10 kills on 15 errorless swings against Wake Forest and .615 with 10 kills on 13 swings (two errors) against LIU Brooklyn. The Tar Heel senior leads the ACC and ranks 15th in the nation with a .416 season hitting percentage—the only ACC player hitting above .400 overall or during ACC play this season.Â
Nordhorn did not see a lot of playing time over her first 2.5 seasons, but after an injury to Sydnye Fields allowed her to start the final 11 matches of 2016, Nordhorn finished her junior year with an ACC-leading .446 season hitting percentage, while leading the conference with a .403 clip during ACC play. The next-best conference player hit .359 on the year, nearly .100 points lower than Nordhorn. She did not meet the minimum playing requirements to be ranked nationally last season, playing in just 60 percent of UNC's sets (req. 66.7%), but her .446 clip beat 2016 NCAA leader Emma Hagedom (UMKC), who finished with a .439 hitting percentage last season.
Block Party
Carolina's blocking unit has returned to form, posting double-digit blocks in the 17 of 24 matches this season. The Tar Heels, who have ranked in the top six in the nation in blocks per set in each of the past three seasons, are averaging 2.69 blocks per set, which ranks second in the ACC and 20th in the nation.Â
Redshirt freshman Katharine Esterley has burst onto the scene, ranking second in the ACC and 21st in the nation with 1.42 blocks per set. The average is the sixth-highest at UNC all time and the most blocks per set ever by a Carolina freshman. With 101 block assists and 104 total blocks, Esterley ranks fourth and fifth, respectively, among freshmen in each total.
Seniors Beth Nordhorn and Taylor Fricano rank ninth and 10th in the conference, respectively, with 1.07 and 1.06 blocks per set. Fricano's 1.13 b/s during ACC play rank eighth in the league. With a career average of 1.04 over three seasons at Carolina, Fricano sits just outside the Tar Heels' top 10 with 286 blocks over 275 sets.
