McPherson carries UNC volleyball to two weekend wins

For the No. 8 North Carolina volleyball team's sweep against Virginia Tech on Sunday, junior Victoria McPherson served two roles — finisher and beginner.

To clinch the second set, McPherson rose up on the left side of the net and smacked the ball into the ground. But McPherson wasn’t done.

Picking up where she left off out of the locker room, McPherson positioned herself, stretched her hands in the air and rejected Virginia Tech’s ball for a block to begin the third set.

Using McPherson’s performance as a catapult, UNC (22-2, 11-1 ACC) swept both Boston College (10-13, 5-7 ACC) on Friday and Virginia Tech (11-14, 4-8 ACC) Sunday.

McPherson had five kills against the Hokies and led the team with 12 kills against the Eagles.

To McPherson, there’s nothing better than hitting the ball and hearing it slam against the ground on the other side of the net.

“It’s the best feeling ever,” McPherson said. “The best part is when you go up and you see an open spot on the court and say ‘Okay, this is where I want to put it.’ And when it goes down you feel like you executed it perfectly.”

Around the net, McPherson was terrorizing both the Eagles and Hokies. She tallied three blocks against Boston College and 5.5 more versus Virginia Tech.

Junior Paige Neuenfeldt loves McPherson as a person and player but admitted that’d she never want to go against her — she’s tough enough in practice as it is.

“Vic and I have played together for three years now and the reason we’re so good is because we play against one of the best ACC middles everyday in practice,” Neuenfeldt said. “So it stinks in practice because you’re going to get a huge block in your face, but it pushes us to be so much better."

Coach Joe Sagula said McPherson suffered a dip in production because of a right knee injury, but recently, her blocking ability has become invaluable.

“In the past three or four matches her blocking has gotten better,” Sagula said. "And (she) was one of the top in the country in blocking early but she kind of slid down a bit because she was nursing a bad knee. She’s healthier now and when she’s on, she becomes a huge factor."

Despite her recent performances, McPherson prefers not to get caught up in the momentum — she’s just focused on helping the team.

“Sometimes I hate to think that way because if I don’t start well, then I think ‘Oh, I’m not going to have a good game’ or if I start too well, I think ‘How do I keep this going?'" McPherson said. “Regardless, every game I just want to get so many blocks and touch so many blocks to help the team.”

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