And after losing the first game and struggling throughout the second, the Tar Heels rebounded to win the match 3-1.
After being outscored 10-4 to end the first game, a 30-22 loss, UNC found themselves trailing again,
28-27, near the end of game two.
"Early in the match, William & Mary completely controlled the tempo," UNC coach Joe Sagula said. "We weren't very disciplined early, and it took us a while to get into blocking rhythm.
"They're very good defensively, and they just kept digging a lot of our best shots and forcing us to make errors, exactly what they wanted to do."
Two points away from falling behind 2-0 to the Tribe, UNC came to life, taking three consecutive points on kills by Laura Greene, Malaika Underwood and Nicole Reis to win the second game 30-28.
UNC then raced out to an 11-4 lead in game three and never looked back as the Tar Heels improved to 5-3 on the season.
Sagula attributed the team's win to improved play in several areas, including the front line. Reis and Greene recorded double-doubles in kills and digs, and Molly Pyles played well.
"In the third game, which was probably the key for us, Nicole Reis had a lot of big swings, Molly Pyles scored effectively, and Laura Greene had five kills, no errors," Sagula said. "They were good kills, but you didn't notice them."
