Volleyball earns second-place ?nish in Carolina Classic

The North Carolina volleyball team expected tougher competition at the Carolina Classic than what it got in the Western Michigan Invitational the weekend before.

The Tar Heels faced their toughest opponent of the weekend Friday night in No. 19 San Diego. The Toreros took the Tar Heels 0-3 (25-22, 25-16, 25-19).

“There’s a lot of things that this match exposed that we can be a little bit better at,” coach Joe Sagula said. “We never got to a point where we got a run more than three points at any point of the match, and we needed to do that.”

But against Saturday’s competition, the team was able to settle into a rhythm that left it with two wins and a second-place finish in the tournament.

“When they’re feeling better, in a better rhythm, and they’re all supporting one another, they build confidence,” Sagula said. “But you play with a lead in the beginning of the game, and you also play a little more relaxed.”

In its first match on Saturday, UNC battled with Georgia Southern through the first set. The score remained close until the Tar Heels went on a 9-2 run to claim the lead.

“Sometimes over the entire weekend, it took us a while to establish that rhythm that we wanted,” senior Erica Behm said. “But once we established that rhythm, it felt really good and everybody was hitting great.”

The next two sets went more smoothly for UNC, as the Tar Heels built early advantages in both sets to sweep the Golden Eagles 3-0.

“We got those leads out. If you can do that, the whole team is relaxed,” Sagula said.

Against Arizona State, the early sets were closely contested. But just like in the Georgia Southern match, UNC consistently pulled away with a run.

“They gave us a lot of outer-system balls, free balls we call them, and we got off with those really well,” Sagula said. “We handled that type of ball really well, and that built up confidence.”

In the third set, the Sun Devils proved to be a tougher opponent for the Tar Heels, and the match featured seven ties. The score was stuck at 15-15 before UNC broke away with a five-point scoring spree from senior Tia Gaffen and junior Emily McGee.

“They knew they were down by two, and they were trying to come back in that third one,” Gaffen said. “I think we did a really good job of trying to hold them off and coming through. It was just a really good team effort overall.”

North Carolina finished the weekend on that 3-0 win, and two Tar Heel players were named to the all-tournament team.

McGee and Behm both received honors, and the team posted a season-high hitting percentage against Arizona State.

“For me it’s exciting because it gives a big vote of confidence to the players, and confidence is a big, big thing,” Sagula said. “When confidence gets spread out across the team, now you’re building the whole team.”

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