Volleyball: UNC downs ACC-leading Devils

The Dean Smith Center was packed.

In the hours before Late Night with Roy kicked off, a season-high 12,700 fans came out and cheered on the North Carolina volleyball team as the Tar Heels took on archrival Duke on Friday night.

The Tar Heels played against a tough 16-4 (6-1 ACC) Duke team who was tied for first in the ACC. UNC, which sat in second place in the conference standings, used effective defensive play to keep the Blue Devils in check and pull off the upset, 3-1.

“Even if Duke was in last place, a win against Duke is always a good win,” said senior middle hitter Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland. “It makes it even better that they were in first place because that just goes to show the rest of the conference that we’re coming for them.”

Though it was the biggest crowd of the season, the Tar Heels didn’t let that affect them.

“I don’t think that the pressure really came from the crowd. I think the pressure really came from the fact that we were playing our rival,” said head coach Joe Sagula. “Anytime that’s the case, you want to play your best match.”

The Tar Heels made their presence known in the first set. UNC led Duke for most of the set by at least two points until Duke tied the game at 17. The Tar Heels finally put the game away and won 25-22 on a Duke service error.

The Blue Devils struck back in the second set. They got out to an 8-3 lead over UNC. Duke errors and solid UNC kills brought the Tar Heels within striking distance. The set was tied at 14 when Duke went on an 11-6 run to win the game 25-20.

The next two sets belonged to the Tar Heels. UNC dominated Duke in the third set 25-16. Miscues hurt the Blue Devils, as Duke missed several easy blocks and made errors on easy kills.

The final set remained neck and neck until UNC scored four straight points to go up 23-19. Duke answered back with two straight scores. But the Tar Heels put the game away with two final kills — winning 25-21.

UNC was able to pull of the upset thanks in part to a greatly improved defense. The Tar Heels were able to lay down some key blocks against the hard-hitting Duke offense.

“[The blockers] did a great job tonight,” said libero Kaylie Gibson.

“I knew exactly where I needed to be on defense because they put it up perfectly for me.”

Hanson-Tuntland had an especially good night blocking, laying down six blocking assists and one solo block.

“I feel like I’ve been focusing too much on hitting this year,” Hanson-Tuntland said. “In practice this week the coaches came to me and said to focus more on blocking and the hitting will just come. So, I guess it was a good mentality to have.”

UNC also had tremendous passing — including cross-court connections between Sue Haydel and Gibson.

“Sue and Kaylie passed, half the time, the entire court,” Sagula said.

“It was one of the best combined passing matches that I’ve seen.”

The loss knocked Duke out of its tie for first place.

For the Tar Heels, the win not only provides a statement to the rest of the ACC, Sagula said, but it also served as a source of confidence for the team.

“I think it’s more important as a statement to ourselves,” Sagula said. “We beat Duke at our place. We’re that good, and we can be that good when we put it together.”



Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.