Despite loss to Penn State, UNC volleyball achieves its NCAA tournament goals for the season

After North Carolina’s Blue & White Scrimmage back in August, head coach Mike Schall only mentioned one goal for his team this season: qualify for the NCAA tournament. 

And Schall, sitting in the back of Carmichael Arena, knew that was only possible if he cultivated an environment where the players love to be together and put in the required work.

Now, after UNC’s final match of the season, an emotional Schall sat in the post-game press conference in Rec Hall at Penn State. Struggling to form words through tears, he only had praise for his players. 

“I love how our kids competed,” Schall said. “We were here to win and didn’t get it done, but there’s nothing about what happened tonight that I was disappointed in. We have an incredible group of kids in the locker room.”

The No. 8-seeded North Carolina women’s volleyball team fell to No. 1-seeded Penn State, 3-1, on Saturday night after advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in eight years. The Tar Heels — who last season fell below .500 and went 7-11 in the ACC — put together their first 20-win season since 2021 and only the second since 2016. 

UNC defeated Yale in a 3-1 victory in the first round of the tournament. The Tar Heels recorded their third-highest hitting percentage of the season, .369, against the Bulldogs thanks to a variety of attackers at the net.

Despite displaying their prowess in the opening round against a tough Yale squad, it seemed like no one believed in the Tar Heels on Penn State’s home turf. Even the coaches told the players they will have no one rooting for them other than the parents who made the trip. 

“We feel like we’ve always been the underdogs in a sense,” senior outside hitter Mabrey Shaffmaster said. 

The Nittany Lions took a 2-0 match advantage to open the evening with a lively home crowd behind them. In what could have been North Carolina’s final set of the season, UNC easily could’ve given Penn State a quick three-set sweep. But, as they’ve done time and time again, the Tar Heels would not give up. 

“There wasn’t a chance these guys were quitting,” Schall said. “Not a chance.”

UNC took the lead in the third set at 6-5 and didn’t allow Penn State to get ahead for the remainder of the set. 

However, the fourth set quickly slipped away from North Carolina as errors piled up early on. The Nittany Lions — who tallied total 13 blocks in the match — didn’t let UNC attack with the same efficiency as they had in the previous set. 

But, in the college sport with arguably the most disparity — dominated by schools like Penn State which has won seven national championships — North Carolina proved it belonged. 

“I felt like we were at a point where we wanted to win a match like that. We were ready to do that. We were prepared to do that,” Schall said, who made his first NCAA tournament appearance as a head coach this season.

And for someone who never thought she was cut out for collegiate volleyball, Shaffmaster — the four-time All-ACC selection — proved she belonged, too. 

“I’ve never been the biggest," Shaffmaster said. “I’ve never been the tallest. I don’t jump the highest. I’m not the fastest, best athlete on the court. I think my entire career, [I’ve shown] you don’t have to be that person.”

The Tar Heels fought against the standards all season. They were picked to finish tenth in the ACC. They don’t have the storied volleyball program like Penn State. 

But they did what they set out to do by returning to the NCAA tournament — a place they hadn’t been since 2021. And they did it by following the mantra they created in August: "love each other, love the game, love Carolina."

“This has been an incredible group of young people that represent our university in a lot of special ways,” Schall said. “They’ve set an incredibly high standard with how we play, how we care about each other.”

@meganosmithh

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