No. 22 Volleyball Sweeps Boston College, 3-0 - University of North Carolina Athletics

Sunday, November 1

Chapel Hill, N.C.

2:00 PM

North Carolina

16-4,11-1ACC

Boston College

12-11,3-9ACC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Boston College	13	10	21	0
North Carolina	25	25	25	3

Match Notes

Photo by: DALTON WAINSCOTT

November 1, 2026 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Megan Smith

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — No. 22 Carolina volleyball (16-4, 11-1 ACC) swept Boston College (12-11, 3-9 ACC) on Sunday afternoon in three sets (25-13, 25-10, 25-21) at Carmichael Arena.

The Tar Heels had a dominant weekend, also toppling Syracuse on Friday night, 3-0. It marked the third time Carolina has swept a full weekend this season. UNC is now 9-0 at home this season following the pair of victories. The last time Carolina started 9-0 at home was in 2024 when it started 11-0 in Carmichael.

Just like against Syracuse, Carolina had the flexibility to cycle in most of the roster during the match. Fifteen Tar Heels saw action on Sunday.

"I talk a lot about our depth, and I think what people had the opportunity to see is our depth in action," head coach Mike Schall said. "Our kids play really hard. They play really together. That's been a really good formula for us."

Against the Eagles, Carolina recorded 12 total blocks. UNC currently averages 3.08 blocks per set, the highest rate dating back to at least 2015. That clip is second-best in the ACC.

"Ultimately, I think our team has decided we're not going to let the ball come across the net," Schall said. "There's a real hunger at the net, a competitiveness at the net, to stuff every ball."

Whether it was via the block or backcourt defense, the Tar Heels didn't let the ball hit their side of the floor too many times throughout the match. Junior libero Julia Bohlinger consistently picked up hard attacks, collecting 16 digs.

Those digs traveled up to setters Zoe Behrendt, Sienna Cozza and Emily Bobbitt. Behrendt led all players with 16 assists, while Cozza added 10 helpers and Bobbitt seven.

Nine players knocked down a kill over the Eagles. Junior middle blocker Jackie Taylor and senior outside hitter Safi Hampton each had a match-high nine, on .571 and .350 efficiencies, respectively. Taylor — who leads the ACC and ranks third in the nation in blocks per set — also added five stops.

Graduate opposite attacker Chelsea Thorpe tallied seven kills, and freshman left pin Addison West contributed five.

Laynie Smith, Meghan Clifford, Sadie Swift, Lindley Miller and Bridget Malone — the latter of whom returned from injury in the third set — combined for 11 more kills out of UNC's 41 total. In comparison, BC only converted on 26 kills. North Carolina hit .322 on the day, whereas the Eagles' offense was just above positive at .011.

"It felt great," Malone, who hasn't played since the Wake Forest win on September 27, said, "and I think it felt great to do it amongst some of my teammates that don't get a ton of time together out there. That made it all the better."

Despite two early missed serves by UNC, the Tar Heels picked up where they left off on Friday night. Boston College had a difficult time navigating around North Carolina above the net, as UNC's formidable front picked up four blocks before the Eagles took their first timeout at 11-4, Carolina.

Zoe Behrendt set up Jackie Taylor on a beautiful, quick tempo run behind her back midway through the first set. Taylor put the ball down in the middle of the court, bringing the North Carolina lead to 16-8.

It was smooth sailing for the rest of the first set. Six Tar Heels recorded a kill as Carolina registered a total of 15 kills and five blocks in that opening frame. Taylor and Addison West tallied four kills apiece.

Taylor did so on five attempts without committing an error. UNC took the first set, 25-13.

Junior middle blocker Meghan Clifford put down a highlight-worthy kill at the beginning of the second set. With no block to stop her, sophomore Sienna Cozza tossed the ball up, and Clifford hammered the ball down with velocity.

The Tar Heels dropped one point, but continued on a 5-0 run. All smiles, UNC stretched the lead to 13-6 after a Chelsea Thorpe tooled the fingertips of the Eagles' block.

The attacking errors began to pile up for Boston College. The team from Beantown tallied nine mistakes on offense in that frame, leading to another set hitting in the negatives.

The Tar Heels were rolling. As UNC doubled up BC, 18-9, Sadie Swift entered the game. Just the next play, the 6'3 graduate middle blocker earned a block at the net alongside Safi Hampton.

North Carolina could taste a set victory when junior setter Emily Bobbitt checked in and served home a short winner of a serve. The following point, Bobbitt assisted Swift from the center of the net, and the middle blocker tipped the ball within the 10-foot line, giving UNC a two-set lead on a 25-10 second-set win.

The 20-minute frame marked the fewest amount of points Carolina has given up in a set in ACC play, and tied for the fewest overall this year.

However, as Schall cycled in more players to the court in the third set, the North Carolina rhythm changed. Boston College scored five unanswered points to take an 8-4 edge — its largest of the match to that point — and Schall called for a timeout.

As it often does, UNC looked to Taylor for direction. She knocked down back-to-back kills, the second an overpass putdown at the top of the net.

But the Eagles didn't disappear. They won another four straight rallies to go up 13-7 — already scoring more points in the third set than in the second, and tying the first set's point total. BC had converted on nine of its 12 attacks by the time UNC took another timeout, down 10-15.

Sophomore outside hitter Bridget Malone credited the Eagles for their athleticism and speedy offensive pace, which added some pressure on the Tar Heels.

"They've got some really good hitters," Malone said of BC, "but Mike [Schall] called that timeout, and [assistant coach Steven Zarzycki] gave us some blocking cues, and that was able to help us get set, get out there and just get our hands over the net."

Coming back to the court, Behrendt put up a one-handed assist behind her to Thorpe, who killed the ball along the line. Then, first-year attacker Lindley Miller and senior middle blocker Mackenzie Boyer angled their block so that the hit from BC landed back on the side it came from. Hampton killed the ball from the left pin on the following play and stopped an Eagle attack on the one after that for her fourth block of the day.

This stretch for North Carolina evened the set at 17 all. BC's defense showed off some fancy feet with a kick save, and when the ball came back to the Tar Heels' side, Carolina hit it out of bounds. But UNC found its footing, too.

A few rallies later, Bridget Malone earned her first kill of the game — and earned lots of applause — to help Carolina to a 21-18 lead. Miller delivered an impressive slide attack not long after.

Bobbitt continued to find Malone on the left pin, as the Colorado native slammed down a line kill. At game point, she and Taylor blocked the Eagles' attack.

UNC took a much closer set three, 25-21, and swept the match. Since BC's largest lead at 13-7, Carolina outscored the Eagles, 18-8, in that final set.

"I thought our leaders did a solid job just keeping everybody in the moment, taking it play by play," Schall said. "We just chipped away at it."

The Tar Heels will hit the road next for a pair of top-five-ranked matchups. UNC will play in Dallas against No. 5 SMU on Friday at 1 p.m. ET before heading north to No. 2 Pitt for a 1 p.m. Sunday game.

"Every match has the same value," Schall said, "and we look at it as the next opportunity for us to get better, the next opportunity for us to compete. We'll put in a good week of practice before we head there on Thursday, and just figure out their puzzle."