The North Carolina volleyball team defeated rival Duke, 3-1, in Durham, North Carolina, on Thursday night, securing the team's ninth win in its last 11 matches.
What happened?
The Blue Devils (11-15, ACC 4-9) got off to a quick start and led the Tar Heels (12-11, 9-4 ACC) early in the first set, 4-0. North Carolina battled back to score four of the next five points and tie the match, 5-5.
Although UNC leveled up the score, Duke proceeded to go on a four-point run to take the lead, 9-5, a position the Blue Devils would maintain throughout the rest of the set. Late in the set, UNC cut the Duke lead to 21-20, but two straight kills by Duke brought the score to 23-20 before the home team earned a 25-22 win.
From there, the Tar Heels rallied to win three straight sets and secure a 3-1 win against a conference rival, the program's fifth win in its last six matches.
Early in the second set, North Carolina gained its first lead of the evening off a kill by sophomore Destiny Cox that brought the score to 3-2. After some back-and-forth action gave UNC a 9-8 lead, the Tar Heels maintained an advantage, even late in the set when Duke gave them trouble.
With the score tied, 24-24, UNC scored the final two points for the win, one off a kill by redshirt first-year Lauren Harrison and another off a bad set by Duke.
To open the third set, both teams traded points in another close start. North Carolina edged out its opponent when the Tar Heels scored two straight points off a kill from Cox and a service ace to lead 6-4. The Blue Devils tied the score late in the set, 14-14, but UNC’s first-year Skyy Howard responded a few plays later by picking up a kill and a block to help put the score at 16-16.
North Carolina went on a six-point scoring run to pull ahead, 22-16. Although the Blue Devils scored twice more in the set, UNC was able to hold off its opponent for a 25-18 win.
