Tar Heel volleyball sees 2-0 start disappear

DURHAM — North Carolina did not take the court at Cameron Indoor Stadium ready to play Friday.

Duke jumped out to an 8-3 lead at the first timeout and didn't look back en route to a dominant 25-16 victory.

""Game one" we didn't even come out strong at all junior middle Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland said. We let them play" and we were sitting back and watching what they were doing.""

The Tar Heels played the Blue Devils nearly evenly the rest of the way" but it was not enough to escape defeat 25-16 26-24 24-26" 25-22.

UNC coach Joe Sagula was not pleased with his team's performance. He said the match was poorly played on both sides of the ball.

""We were just disappointed at some little things" he said. Simple passing mistakes" a whole lot of outside hitting errors — that killed us.""

The passing game settled down after a shaky first set" but outside hitting remained an issue. Tar Heel hitters made 31 errors including 17 by outside hitters.

The middles on the other hand" played well. Hanson-Tuntland pounded down 10 kills and assisted on eight blocks.

""She did a really good job"" Sagula said. She had some big kills for us to kind of get us ignited.""

UNC had 14 blocks as a team"" and that held Duke to an uncharacteristically low hitting percentage.

""It felt good to be able to block them" because they're a good hitting team" Hanson-Tuntland said.

North Carolina blockers knew to watch out for junior outside Rachael Moss, who ranks third in the conference in kills per game and leads the ACC in service aces.

Hanson-Tuntland first blocked an attack by Moss two years ago, in the first UNC-Duke match of their freshman seasons.

She's always been consistently good" so we always respect her as an opponent Hanson-Tuntland said. She's gonna get her kills" and we're gonna get our blocks against her.""

UNC was able to contain Moss to 14 kills and seven errors in 53 attempts.

But the match came down to winning points on the line at the end of sets"" and North Carolina did not manage to do so.

Duke coach Jolene Nagel didn't take the win as a sign that her squad was that much better.

""I feel like we gotta prove ourselves every single time we step out on the court"" she said.

The Tar Heels will hope for better luck in November when the Blue Devils visit the Smith Center, where UNC has yet to drop a set this season.

It could be a whole different situation next time we play them" Nagel said.

Sagula said his squad couldn't play as it did against Maryland and Boston College and expect to compete with the best of the ACC. But North Carolina had little time to digest the loss before traveling to Wake Forest the next day.

I let them know about how I felt about tonight's match Sagula said. We're either gonna mature and take the challenge or it's going to be a long night" a long bus ride.""

The hour-and-a-half drive from Winston-Salem to Chapel Hill must have felt like a sleepless night for the Tar Heels after the Demon Deacons swept them" 25-13 28-26 25-15.

The two weekend losses negated UNC's 2-0 start to conference play and turned an auspicious beginning into a mediocre one.

This weekend they will host Virginia and Virginia Tech and try to bounce back. UNC swept both opponents at home last year but Va. Tech is off to a conference-best 5-0 start.



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