Volleyball gets served at home

The fans cheered, the band played, and members of Carolina Fever shouted demeaning comments at the opposing team.

But the outpouring of team spirit was not enough to boost the North Carolina volleyball team to a win in its home opener.

The Tar Heels dropped their match against Purdue in four games Friday, 30-24, 23-30, 21-30, 22-30. It was the first of three matches UNC played over the weekend as part of the annual GlaxoSmithKline UNC Volleyball Classic.

In the first game against Purdue (8-0), the Tar Heels (3-4) started strong, but fundamental lapses hurt them down the stretch.

"Our passing broke down," Coach Joe Sagula said. "In the second game we had some passing issues, and when we got out of that it just put us out of rhythm."

On day two of the event there were significantly fewer fans, no band and no Fever members in attendance for the 10 a.m. match against Coastal Carolina (2-5). The vast difference of setting seemed fitting for the different outcome in the match.

The Chanticleers took an early lead in game one, but the Tar Heels managed to keep it close and finish 30-28 on a Camilla Ihenetu kill.

Coastal came back in game two, holding the lead for the first half. Despite several lead changes in the second half, solid blocking eventually allowed the Chanticleers to pull out a 31-29 victory.

The Tar Heels refused to let the next two games slip through their fingers, however, winning both and ending the match with 30-15, 30-25 wins.

Defensive specialist Taylor Rayfield recorded 17 total digs to lead the defense against the Chanticleers, earning a spot on the all-tournament team at the Classic's close.

"My position is all about digging and passing so if I'm not 100 percent on either one I feel like I'm letting my team down," Rayfield said.

But UNC could not sustain the momentum in Saturday's nightcap, dropping its final contest against South Carolina, 30-24, 27-30, 31-33, 27-30.

In game one, senior McKenzie Byrd missed a dig to give South Carolina the first point.

The other three games remained close, with UNC making comebacks along the way, but shoddy offense kept the Tar Heels from capitalizing on any leads.

"We became very predictable in our offense," Sagula said. "We started sending a lot to one or two players, and their block was adjusting very well, and we couldn't score."

Rayfield's 16 digs kept the Gamecocks from completely demolishing the Tar Heels, but she acknowledged that good defense alone wouldn't have been enough to win the match.

"It wasn't offense, it wasn't defense, it was the whole entire team out there on the court that needed to step up," Rayfield said.

After a 1-2 weekend at home to start the season, the win against lowly Coastal Carolina provided little consolation to the Tar Heels.

"I think we learned a valuable lesson that losing hurts," Ihenetu said. "We need to remember this feeling. I think we will remember this feeling and take it into the next match and know that we don't ever want to feel this way again."

 

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