Coach Joe Sagula was frustrated.
With his No. 12 North Carolina volleyball team looking lethargic and out-of-sync midway through the first set against Virginia on Friday, Sagula called his second timeout of the set, and got ready to light a fire under his team.
“I got on them a little bit,” Sagula said. “I thought we were lacking. We had to create some energy and a lot more focus and some more communication. We had to create different ways to find some intensity.”
Consider that message received as the Tar Heels came to life toward the end of the set, taking it 25-23, and eventually riding that wave of momentum to sweep the match (25-23, 25-14, 25-16), improving their overall record to 13-2 and 4-1 in ACC play.
Junior outside hitter Leigh Andrew led a balanced UNC effort that saw seven different hitters notch at least four kills, and with the setters starting to spread the wealth around in the second set, the Tar Heels hit their stride.
“In the second set we really locked in and executed our game plan,” said Andrew, who led the team with 11 kills. “We just got our mindset right, came out, and did what we needed to do.”
Part of what the Tar Heels needed to do was juggle its lineup a bit in the second and third sets. Starter Lauren McAdoo, who has played extremely well in the first half of the season, even winning ACC Player of the Week earlier in the year, was benched in favor of sophomore Tatiana Durr.
But Sagula said that move had nothing to do with McAdoo’s performance and everything to do with his team’s depth, something that has become an asset for the Tar Heels over the course of the long season.
“Every night, someone’s going to step up,” Sagula said. “Lauren’s a great player. She’s going to be great for us. She had a great week of practice. Tatiana stepped up and did some different things that we needed tonight which is basically in the passing game. And then she got going offensively.”
