Payback raced through the minds of the North Carolina volleyball players on Friday night in Carmichael Arena.
UNC was facing UNC-Wilmington in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament — the same team that defeated it in five sets back in September.
And on Friday night, the Tar Heels' (21-9) revenge came in the form of a sweep (25-18, 25-21, 25-21) of the Seahawks.
Early in the first set, the Seahawks (24-8) held a 4-1 advantage. But once the Tar Heels tied the set at 6, UNC-W could never regain the lead. The Seahawks closed the gap to 18-15, but UNC used a 7-3 run to take the opening set. Both teams had 14 kills, but eight attack errors plagued the Seahawks.
The Tar Heels controlled the second set by never relinquishing the lead. UNC’s advantage eventually grew to 19-13 before the Seahawks whittled the lead to 21-20. But the Tar Heels once again escaped, this time with a 4-1 run. Senior middle hitter Paige Neuenfeldt had the last three kills of the set for North Carolina.
UNC-W jumped out to a 16-8 lead in the third set — its largest lead of the match. But the Tar Heels used a 17-5 run to erase the deficit and win the match.
Quotable
“I was not happy. But I was delighted to see what this team could do, to be down like that and to string along points. That set was close to being over.” — Coach Joe Sagula on UNC’s comeback in the third set.
