Errors plague UNC volleyball in 1st home loss in 2 years

As the ball spiraled out of bounds for the final point in Friday’s match, the mood on North Carolina volleyball team’s bench turned sour.

On the other side of the net, UNC-Wilmington sprinted to the court and met in a raucous huddle.

In five exhausting sets, the Seahawks beat the Tar Heels 3-2 (25-17, 20-25, 25-20, 20-25, 13-15) in Carmichael Arena, a feat no team had done in nearly two years.

Unforced errors led to UNC’s (2-5) demise. The Tar Heels had 41 attack errors in the game. The Seahawks (6-1) only committed 22 attack errors and had no more than six in a single set.

“For a team with some scrappy athletes, (UNC-W) showed what it’s like to fight and just get after it,” Coach Joe Sagula said. “They never backed down from our blocking or from our tough serving.”

On the season, UNC has committed 165 attack errors, while its opponents have committed 146.

In Friday’s match, redshirt junior Hayley McCorkle led the team with 19 kills, but also had 12 attack errors. Senior Leigh Andrew had 14 kills, but committed seven attack errors.

“I don’t care how good they were,” Sagula said. “It seemed like one kill, one error. One kill, one error. We didn’t get anybody having a night that could help carry the team and everybody kept looking for somebody to get us going and everyone kept pointing the finger.”

In the deciding fifth set, the Tar Heels committed eight errors — twice the Seahawks’ amount.

Andrew said UNC-W controlled most of the match and that the Tar Heels needed more mental preparation.

“There was a lack of focus,” Andrew said. “It always comes down to that. I think we were shying away from the block and we were getting blocked a lot — they did a hell of a job there.”

McCorkle said the match provides an opportunity for the team to improve its consistency.

The previous night, UNC defeated No. 3 Stanford in straight sets. But McCorkle quickly rebuffed any notion that the team was suffering from an emotional hangover.

“I think last night was last night,” she said on Friday. “Every game is a new game and we can’t keep focusing on, ‘Oh, we just won against Stanford.’ We just have to play the team that’s in front of us.”

Sagula said he was surprised by UNC’s performance, but was also disappointed in himself for not preparing the team. He personally accepted responsibility for the loss and said he would look to correct his own errors, as well.

“We need to prepare them better,” Sagula said. “We need to push them harder and I need to do a better job of demanding more of them. We just need to practice better.”

@BenColey15sports@dailytarheel.com