UNC volleyball captures third conference win of season in 3-1 defeat of Miami

The UNC volleyball team picked up its third ACC win on Sunday in a four-set match against Miami as the young Tar Heel team appears to be finding a groove after a lull that consumed the majority of its 2018 season. 

“It feels so good seeing the work in practice pay off in a win," redshirt sophomore Katharine Esterley said. "It is hard to stay positive during a tough season but our team continues to do that, and I am so proud of them. Every day I love coming into practice."

The Tar Heels (7-17, 3-12 ACC) broke their 10-game losing streak last weekend against Wake Forest in a three-set sweep and granted head coach Joe Sagula his 800th win. That energy seemed to stay in Carmichael Arena on Sunday as the squad opened the match with a 7-0 run against the Hurricanes (13-10, 9-7 ACC). UNC won the first set, 25-20, and started the game with a .400 hitting percentage while limiting the Hurricanes to a 3.4 percent hit rate with only eight kills in the opening frame. 

“I think the difference is the matter of time of the team maturing and things finally coming together," Sagula said. "Things that we worked on a month ago we are starting to see the results of. Everybody was patient with themselves and now is just letting the game evolve."

The Tar Heels dropped the second set, 25-23, as the Hurricanes battled to take a lead in the middle of the set.

Esterley and redshirt sophomore Hunter Atherton left their mark before first-year Destiny Cox tied the score at 20 with a kill in the second frame before dropping the close set.

The Tar Heels pulled out a third-set win, 25-20, and brought back their energy late in the frame with kills from Cox and Esterley to spark the momentum heading into the fourth set. 

“Before the fourth set I said 'Now, listen, you guys need to put out a good effort, you guys are kind of falling down,'" Sagula said. "I was kidding around and said, 'I don’t know what you guys were up to last night but call the energy within yourself to play one hard set.' They laughed because they knew I wasn’t serious because I knew where they were last night — in the team room watching movies and playing games."

UNC matched the laughter in the locker room with intensity on the court and hustled to win the fourth set. The fourth-set win epitomizes the action and emotion the Tar Heels have been aiming for this season. 

“Today is just the culmination of the months we’ve put in," first-year Ava Bell said. "There’s been a dip in our season we talk about, and we are making our way out of it."

Bell and Esterley lead the Tar Heels in blocks this season with 80 and 79, respectively. Bell is one of six first-years on the team and in addition to three transfers, the Tar Heels began this season with more newcomers than returners. 

According to Esterley, age is not considered to be a barrier for this team and the offensive statistics seem to agree. Cox leads the Tar Heels in kills this season (263), followed by junior transfer Skylar Wine (203) and Bell (185).  

“I think I personally expected age to be more of a factor but everyone’s learning really fast, we’re working really hard," Esterley said.

The Tar Heels look to carry their intensity and energy on the road with them to Raleigh as they face N.C. State on Wednesday.

“Reynolds Coliseum is pretty tough to play in, but it’s also really exciting because it’s so loud," Esterley said. "They have really good energy in there so we’re just going to have to learn to use that to our advantage, which is very doable. It is a rivalry game; they are really close, and we are looking for that second win against them."

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