The team remains undefeated five games into the season, having knocked off then-No. 9 Penn State (2-3) in the season-opening weekend. The Tar Heels’ latest victory was a sweep of TCU in Carmichael Arena — the 1,000th win in program history.
But UNC isn’t focused on its present accomplishments.
“We’ve got to keep working hard and not let the success make us complacent,” Coach Joe Sagula said. “We’re going back to practice on Monday, and we’re working on passing and defense.”
That attitude shows in the team’s youngest players, too.
Julia Scoles was named ACC Freshman of the Week for two consecutive weeks. She only made one error while serving for the Tar Heels on Saturday and had a team-high 14 kills. Scoles has been a fixture on the court in the first two weeks of her collegiate career — but she won’t stop here.
“I’m going to keep trying to work hard in practice to get better every single day that I can,” Scoles said.
Senior co-captain Sheila Doyle said she appreciates the contributions the first-years are making, but she is also focused on improvement.
“Hopefully we’ll keep getting better,” she said. “Obviously we’re a young team, but we’ve gotten some good experience at Penn State. And playing at Cameron (Indoor Stadium) the first two weekends is a huge chance to learn a lot and to experience it all. It’s not going to get any easier from here, so hopefully the veterans will keep taking care of business.”
