Volleyball: Behm ?nds her stride in weekend tournament

In an otherwise disappointing weekend for North Carolina volleyball, the Tar Heels had a triumphant Friday, rallying from a two-set deficit to defeat Tennessee.

The match was particularly meaningful to sophomore setter Erica Behm, who tallied career highs in digs and assists.

Behm had struggled with passing in the first two weekends of the season, averaging 1.26 digs per set.

“Defensively, I haven’t been 100 percent this year,” Behm said.

The struggles peaked in practice Tuesday when Behm had a rough day on defense.

After practice, she told coach Joe Sagula she felt like he was on her case after almost every play. The two talked for about 20 minutes as Sagula lined out what he wanted from her.

“She’s got the physical capability to be a really good defensive player, but I think at times she just isn’t watching the game well enough,” Sagula said.

Sagula told Behm that if she wanted to play on the starting team, she would have to hear the things that she could do better.

Behm needed to work on planting her feet when anticipating attacks and making an effort to go after all balls hit within her range.

The chat did the trick. Sagula missed Wednesday’s practice for recruiting, but he said his staff told him that Behm stepped up her game.

“I think she was more determined and realized that she’s got to be more focused,” Sagula said.

Behm said talking with Sagula motivated her to play at a higher level.

 “Having that talk really kind of buckles you down and just clears everything out of your head,” Behm said.

Behm’s performance in practice was good enough to retain the starting role at setter, and it continued into the match against Tennessee.

Her defense was an important part of UNC’s comeback. She made plays on some balls that went by her in practice that week, and the result was 15 digs, a career high.

“I’m proud of how she improved in that way ­— real, real proud,” Sagula said.

Behm also played one of her finest matches offensively, manifested in the score sheet as a career-high 59 assists. Her sets late in the game were consistently on the mark, paving the way for big kills by her hitters.

The last three points the Tar Heels scored were kills by senior Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland, freshman Heather Henry and again by Hanson-Tuntland — and all three times, it was Behm who set up the spike.

“I have confidence in all of my hitters, especially those two, to put the ball away. So if we’re in a tight game, I have 100 percent confidence going in there,” Behm said.

“These are the crowds that I live for. I love performing in front of everybody.”


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