The No. 6 North Carolina volleyball team completed its 17th sweep of the season, defeating Wake Forest in three straight sets in Carmichael Arena on Saturday (25-15, 25-21, 25-15).
What happened?
On senior day, the Tar Heels (27-3, 19-1 ACC) started the opening set strong. A kill by redshirt senior Taylor Treacy started a 7-0 run against the Demon Deacons (9-22, 5-15 ACC). Senior Abigail Curry tacked on an ace to fuel the team's momentum. The Demon Deacons would make a push to get back in the set but could only manage to come within three of UNC. The Tar Heels took a one set lead.
The second set was much closer to start. Wake Forest claimed a 4-3 lead early, but the Tar Heels quickly took control. The Demon Deacons kept the set much closer, pulling even on the scoreboard with the Tar Heels four times in the set, but ultimately fell short, dropping the set by five points.
With UNC looking to end the final match of the regular season in emphatic fashion, the Tar Heels again took control of the set early, and never relented. UNC took the deciding set by 10 points, closing out the regular season with a sweep of Wake Forest.
Who stood out?
In their final regular season home game, three seniors stood out for a talented UNC team. Abigail Curry led the team with 15 assists, while Taylor Treacy and Hayley McCorkle led the offensive attack for the Tar Heels. Treacy had nine kills and McCorkle added seven.
The five seniors met with coach Joe Sagula before the game, searching for a way to all play on the court at the same time. Once the players decided playing Treacy on the front line would do the trick, Sagula said they would have to play well in order to stay on the court together. After the seniors lead a dominant first-set charge, he decided to stick with that rotation to start the second set as well.
