North Carolina
0-4
Florida
4-0
No. 3 Florida Tops No. 16 Carolina, 3-0
September 3, 2017 | Volleyball
Bayamón, Puerto Rico – No. 16 North Carolina took on its third top-10 opponent in four matches on Sunday night, battling No. 3 Florida in the finale of the ACC/SEC Puerto Rico Clasico. UNC played tough against the surging Gators, but became UF's third ranked defeat of 2017, as Florida topped the Tar Heels, 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-23). With the win, Florida improves to 4-0 while Carolina drops to 0-4.
Junior Taylor Leath led Carolina on offense and defense, tallying 11 digs and eight kills, while Beth Nordhorn followed with six kills and Taylor Borup and Holly Carlton each had five. Carlton played setter and hitter on Sunday night, hitting .385 and tallying 14 assists, while Kendra Koetter put up 10 assists.
Libero Mia Fradenburg followed Leath with seven digs, while Carlton and Sehrena Hull both had five. Fradenburg and Hull both also registered an ace.
The Tar Heel blocking unit showed improvement, registering its first double-digit performance of the year (10.5) behind six blocks by Taylor Fricano and five from Nordhorn. Redshirt freshman Katharine Esterley made her first career appearance, starting in the middle in the third set, and tallied two blocks and a kill.
Carolina took an early 6-4 lead and stretched it to 10-7 on a strong service run by Fricano, but the Gators tied the score at 11. Four consecutive blocks helped UF surge ahead, 20-13, and a kill by Rachael Kramer finished out the first for the Gators, 25-17.
The second set was reminiscent of the first, as a 14-14 tie turned into a 21-14 Florida lead, thanks to a seven-point run served out by Caroline Knop. A kill by Leath finally allowed the Tar Heels to rotate, but they were unable to dig themselves out of the hole, falling once again by a score of 25-17.
The third set was back and forth. Florida led 13-9, early, but back-to-back blocks by Fricano and Nordhorn and a Nordhorn kill cut the deficit to one. UF pushed back ahead, 15-12, but Fradenburg led Carolina on a 5-0 run capped off by a service ace to overtake the lead, 17-15. A block by Borup and Esterley made it 19-17, but Florida forced its way back, winning four straight to pull back in front, 21-19. A kill by Kramer set up Florida match point, but Leath wiped off two straight attempts with back-to-back kills to cut the lead to one. However, Shainah Joseph went cross court and tucked the ball just inside the back corner to close out the Florida sweep with a 25-23 win in the third.
"Although the results don't always show it, I feel we've made progress," said head coach Joe Sagula. "This team is maturing, and it's given everybody some great hope for what we can do throughout the rest of the season."
The Tar Heels open the home season on Friday, Sept. 6, hosting LIU-Brooklyn in the first match of the Carolina Classic. First serve of the home opener is set for 6:30 p.m.
