University of North Carolina Athletics
Friday, October 2
Chapel Hill, N.C.
7:00 PM
North Carolina
vs
Clemson
Photo by: DALTON WAINSCOTT
No. 25 Volleyball Returns Home For Clemson And Georgia Tech
September 30, 2026 | Volleyball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 25 Carolina volleyball returns home after six straight matchups on the road. They'll take on Clemson on Friday and Georgia Tech on Sunday.
Â
No. 25 Carolina vs. Clemson
Oct. 2 | 7 PM
LIVE STATS | WATCHÂ | TICKETS
Â
No. 25 Carolina vs. Georgia Tech
Oct. 4 | 1:30 PM
LIVE STATS | WATCHÂ | TICKETS
NEWS & NOTES
A WIN WOULD...
- Be better than a loss
- Third straight 3-0 start in ACC play
- Third straight 4-0 start in ACC play
- Be the 10th straight win against Clemson in Chapel Hill
- Mark the first win against Georgia Tech at home since a five set win on Nov. 9, 2017
DIG PINK MATCH
- Friday's match against Clemson will be bigger than volleyball as the team will be in pink warm-ups and accessories in support of breast cancer awareness
DRESS LIKE MIKE DAY
- Sunday's match against Georgia Tech is 'Dress Like Mike Day'
- The first 500 students will get bald caps to look like Carolina's head coach Mike Schall
AFTER ALL... IT IS THE TAR HEEL STATE
- Since Mike Schall took over in the 2024 season the Tar Heels are 16-4 against in-state opponents and winners of the last 11 matches
- He holds a 4-0 record against Duke, 3-0 against Wake Forest, 2-1 against NC State, and 1-0 records against App State, ECU, Davidson, UNCW, and Western Carolina
- All-time, UNC is 426-142 against in-state opponents, with winning record against all but two schools (Barton and St. Andrews, last played both in 1974)
THE SAFI AND JACKIE SHOW
- Through ten matches Safi Hampton leads the Tar Heels with 124 kills and 3.26 points per set
- Jackie Taylor leads in both blocks and service aces with 55 and 11 respectively
- She currently has 18 more blocks than anyone else on the team
- Taylor ranks 4th in the ACC in total blocks and blocks per set
- Eight matches into her third season, Taylor entered the top 10 in program history in block assists
- The Miami native is nearing the top 10 in total blocks as well, just 14 away from 10th place
BIG RED. BIG IMPACT.
- Bridget Malone had the match of her career against Colorado State on Sept. 4
- She had a career-high 23 kills and she tacked on four blocks to carry the Tar Heels to a five set win
LUCKY NUMBER... 19?
- Carolina was ranked No. 19 for five consecutive AVCA polls between Nov. 24, 2025-Aug. 31
- Before this stretch the Tar Heels had only been ranked No. 19 twice in the history of the AVCA Top 25 (Nov. 4, 2013, Aug. 10, 2016)
- Five straight polls at the same ranking is the longest stretch since Carolina was ranked No. 7 in five consecutive polls between Nov. 17, 2014-Aug. 12, 2015
OPENING WEEKEND MASTERCLASS
- Carolina swept opening weekend while being extremely efficient on offense and
lockdown on defense
- The Tar Heels hit an insane .470 against UNCW on Sunday which is the most efficient offensive performance since Nov. 11, 2016
- UNC also shut down the UNCW offense, holding them to a -.010 hitting percentage, the lowest since Boston College hit -.010 on Oct. 21, 2016
- Through two matches the UNC defense is holding opponents to a stellar .055 hitting percentage which is second best in the nation early on
RETURNING FIREPOWER
- Carolina didn't lose anyone to the transfer portal for the second consecutive year and it's allowing a lot of production to return
- Out of the 1536 kills last season, 1535 (99.9%) of those are back on the 2026 roster, 100% of the 342 blocks are back, 90.2% of aces are returning, and 69.7% of digs
- Safi Hampton and Chelsea Thorpe were both named to the Preseason All-ACC Team ahead of the 2026 season
O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
- The 2026 leadership team consists of Zoe Behrendt, Chelsea Thrope, and Sadie Swift
BEHIND THE SCHEDULE
- The Tar Heels will square off with eight different teams who made the NCAA Tournament last season
- They will face National Runner-Up Kentucky, National Semi-Finalist Pitt, and 2025 overall No. 1 seed Nebraska all on the road this season.
- UNC will also travel to SMU, host Stanford and Georgia Tech, and play Louisville and Miami both home and away.
- Carolina will square off against six teams in the AVCA Preseason Top-11 over the course of seven matches throughout the season, five on the road and two at home
THE CLUB CONNECTION
- Laynie Smith and Emily Bobbitt will have a connection before they ever play in Carolina blue together
- The two played together at Triangle Volleyball Club
- Triangle is also where Erin Curtis, Lindley Miller, and Carly Markham played club prior to college
- Erin Curtis' father, Jason, co-founded the club
- Head coach Mike Schall served as an associate director at Triangle before arriving in Chapel Hill
 YEAR FOUR OF THE SCHALL ERA
- Entering year four, Coach Schall looks to build off the momentum of the first three seasons
- Carolina is ranked in the preseason AVCA Top-25 Coaches Poll for the first time since 2017 and was picked fifth in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll
- In year one he went 13-14 and turned that around with a 23-8 record in 2024 with the first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2021, followed by a 22-9 campaign in 2025 with another first round victory in the NCAA Tournament
- UNC is now chasing three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since it went to seven in a row between 2010-16
ATHLETIC PEDIGREE
- Jackie Taylor's father, Sean, played football for the University of Miami from 2001-2003 and was a member of the 2001 BCS National Championship team. He was the No. 5 pick in the 2004 NFL Draft to the Washington Redskins where he was a two-time Pro-Bowl Selection (2006, 2007)
-Her mom, Jackie García, was a midfielder on the women's soccer team at the University of Miami
- Erin Curtis', father Jason was a captain on the Santa Clara men's volleyball team, sister Emily was a setter at Villanova and sister Maggie was a defensive specialist at Santa Clara
- Julia Bohlinger: Father Rob played football at the University of Wyoming (1993-98) and professionally in the NFL for the Carolina Panthers as a left tackle
- Carson Overbeck's mom, Carla, was a three-time All-America and four-time NCAA Champion on the UNC soccer team from 1986-89. She captained the 1995 U.S. World Cup squad that advanced to the semifinals and also served as captain of the 1996 U.S. Women's Soccer Olympic Team that won the gold medal. She is currently an assistant coach for the Duke women's soccer team
Â
No. 25 Carolina vs. Clemson
Oct. 2 | 7 PM
LIVE STATS | WATCHÂ | TICKETS
Â
No. 25 Carolina vs. Georgia Tech
Oct. 4 | 1:30 PM
LIVE STATS | WATCHÂ | TICKETS
NEWS & NOTES
A WIN WOULD...
- Be better than a loss
- Third straight 3-0 start in ACC play
- Third straight 4-0 start in ACC play
- Be the 10th straight win against Clemson in Chapel Hill
- Mark the first win against Georgia Tech at home since a five set win on Nov. 9, 2017
DIG PINK MATCH
- Friday's match against Clemson will be bigger than volleyball as the team will be in pink warm-ups and accessories in support of breast cancer awareness
DRESS LIKE MIKE DAY
- Sunday's match against Georgia Tech is 'Dress Like Mike Day'
- The first 500 students will get bald caps to look like Carolina's head coach Mike Schall
AFTER ALL... IT IS THE TAR HEEL STATE
- Since Mike Schall took over in the 2024 season the Tar Heels are 16-4 against in-state opponents and winners of the last 11 matches
- He holds a 4-0 record against Duke, 3-0 against Wake Forest, 2-1 against NC State, and 1-0 records against App State, ECU, Davidson, UNCW, and Western Carolina
- All-time, UNC is 426-142 against in-state opponents, with winning record against all but two schools (Barton and St. Andrews, last played both in 1974)
THE SAFI AND JACKIE SHOW
- Through ten matches Safi Hampton leads the Tar Heels with 124 kills and 3.26 points per set
- Jackie Taylor leads in both blocks and service aces with 55 and 11 respectively
- She currently has 18 more blocks than anyone else on the team
- Taylor ranks 4th in the ACC in total blocks and blocks per set
- Eight matches into her third season, Taylor entered the top 10 in program history in block assists
- The Miami native is nearing the top 10 in total blocks as well, just 14 away from 10th place
BIG RED. BIG IMPACT.
- Bridget Malone had the match of her career against Colorado State on Sept. 4
- She had a career-high 23 kills and she tacked on four blocks to carry the Tar Heels to a five set win
LUCKY NUMBER... 19?
- Carolina was ranked No. 19 for five consecutive AVCA polls between Nov. 24, 2025-Aug. 31
- Before this stretch the Tar Heels had only been ranked No. 19 twice in the history of the AVCA Top 25 (Nov. 4, 2013, Aug. 10, 2016)
- Five straight polls at the same ranking is the longest stretch since Carolina was ranked No. 7 in five consecutive polls between Nov. 17, 2014-Aug. 12, 2015
OPENING WEEKEND MASTERCLASS
- Carolina swept opening weekend while being extremely efficient on offense and
lockdown on defense
- The Tar Heels hit an insane .470 against UNCW on Sunday which is the most efficient offensive performance since Nov. 11, 2016
- UNC also shut down the UNCW offense, holding them to a -.010 hitting percentage, the lowest since Boston College hit -.010 on Oct. 21, 2016
- Through two matches the UNC defense is holding opponents to a stellar .055 hitting percentage which is second best in the nation early on
RETURNING FIREPOWER
- Carolina didn't lose anyone to the transfer portal for the second consecutive year and it's allowing a lot of production to return
- Out of the 1536 kills last season, 1535 (99.9%) of those are back on the 2026 roster, 100% of the 342 blocks are back, 90.2% of aces are returning, and 69.7% of digs
- Safi Hampton and Chelsea Thorpe were both named to the Preseason All-ACC Team ahead of the 2026 season
O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
- The 2026 leadership team consists of Zoe Behrendt, Chelsea Thrope, and Sadie Swift
BEHIND THE SCHEDULE
- The Tar Heels will square off with eight different teams who made the NCAA Tournament last season
- They will face National Runner-Up Kentucky, National Semi-Finalist Pitt, and 2025 overall No. 1 seed Nebraska all on the road this season.
- UNC will also travel to SMU, host Stanford and Georgia Tech, and play Louisville and Miami both home and away.
- Carolina will square off against six teams in the AVCA Preseason Top-11 over the course of seven matches throughout the season, five on the road and two at home
THE CLUB CONNECTION
- Laynie Smith and Emily Bobbitt will have a connection before they ever play in Carolina blue together
- The two played together at Triangle Volleyball Club
- Triangle is also where Erin Curtis, Lindley Miller, and Carly Markham played club prior to college
- Erin Curtis' father, Jason, co-founded the club
- Head coach Mike Schall served as an associate director at Triangle before arriving in Chapel Hill
 YEAR FOUR OF THE SCHALL ERA
- Entering year four, Coach Schall looks to build off the momentum of the first three seasons
- Carolina is ranked in the preseason AVCA Top-25 Coaches Poll for the first time since 2017 and was picked fifth in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll
- In year one he went 13-14 and turned that around with a 23-8 record in 2024 with the first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2021, followed by a 22-9 campaign in 2025 with another first round victory in the NCAA Tournament
- UNC is now chasing three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since it went to seven in a row between 2010-16
ATHLETIC PEDIGREE
- Jackie Taylor's father, Sean, played football for the University of Miami from 2001-2003 and was a member of the 2001 BCS National Championship team. He was the No. 5 pick in the 2004 NFL Draft to the Washington Redskins where he was a two-time Pro-Bowl Selection (2006, 2007)
-Her mom, Jackie García, was a midfielder on the women's soccer team at the University of Miami
- Erin Curtis', father Jason was a captain on the Santa Clara men's volleyball team, sister Emily was a setter at Villanova and sister Maggie was a defensive specialist at Santa Clara
- Julia Bohlinger: Father Rob played football at the University of Wyoming (1993-98) and professionally in the NFL for the Carolina Panthers as a left tackle
- Carson Overbeck's mom, Carla, was a three-time All-America and four-time NCAA Champion on the UNC soccer team from 1986-89. She captained the 1995 U.S. World Cup squad that advanced to the semifinals and also served as captain of the 1996 U.S. Women's Soccer Olympic Team that won the gold medal. She is currently an assistant coach for the Duke women's soccer team
Players Mentioned
S
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
L/DS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
L/DS
/ Volleyball
OH/OPP
/ Volleyball
OH/OPP
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
OH/OPP
/ VolleyballThursday, October 01
Thursday, October 01
Tuesday, September 29
Monday, September 28