UNC Slides Past Miami in Volleyball Action, 3-1

UNC Slides Past Miami in Volleyball Action, 3-1

Nov. 20, 2008

Box Score

Chapel Hill, N.C. – Genny Mayhew had 16 kills and Ashley Woods had 12 more, but it wasn’t enough as the University of North Carolina downed the University of Miami, 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 25-18) on Thursday night in a key ACC volleyball matchup played at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

UNC (20-9, 14-4 ACC) entered Thursday’s meeting working on an eight-match winning streak dating back to a loss in Coral Gables to Miami on Oct. 18. UM stared at a shot to win their first Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) title in school history as they trailed the Tar Heels by just one match. With the ACC title at stake for both teams tonight, it was North Carolina that took the ever-so-important edge closer to the title with the win against the Orange and Green.

The `Canes led 22-20 in the first set following an attack error charged to UNC–one of four in the frame for the Tar Heels. A 5-1 run ensued with the help of kills from Carolina’s Suzanne Haydel and Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland. Together, the UNC duo accounted for 30 of the team’s 63 kills in the match.

That run allowed the Tar Heels to earn the early 1-0 advantage in the hard-fought match.

The visitors from Coral Gables stormed back in the second frame as Miami (24-6, 12-6 ACC) registered 15 kills, including five from Mayhew and Woods, respectively. With the score tied at 10 in the second set, Miami jumped out to a 15-11 lead with the help of three kills from Woods and single shots from Lane Carico and setter Katie Gallagher.

Angelica Ellis would supply the final kill to allow UM to hold on for the 25-23 win, tying the match at 1-1. However, Miami committed nine errors in the frame while holding the UNC offense to just .128 hitting performance (13-7-47) for the win.

UM trailed just 17-16 in the third frame before UNC picked up two kills from Hanson-Tuntland to advance their margin out to 20-17. The Hurricanes jumped right back into it (20-19) as Ellis collected another one of her eight kills in the match, as well as earning a UNC attack error.

UM hit a solid .234 clip in the third set (15-4-47), while UNC held a .261 clip (16-4-46).

UNC held off the `Canes down the stretch with Courtney Johnston laying down a kill and UM committing back-to-back errors to allow UNC to take the 25-21 win and push out in the match at 2-1.

In the fourth set, North Carolina raced out to a quick 8-2 lead with two kills from Johnston, as well as a service error charged to UM and another ball-handling error. UM would cut into the lead, however, as they went on a 5-2 run sparked by Woods and Gallagher.

But in the end, there was too much Hanson-Tuntland as the Tar Heels hit a match-high .314 clip (17-6-35) to close-out the victory, and put the `Canes title hopes a little farther out of grasp, but certainly not away for good.

UNC was led on the night by Haydel and Hanson-Tuntland who each recorded 15 kills, as well as Lauren Prussing putting in 13 of her own. Setter Stephanie Jansma set-up 46 assists while Briana Eskola went low to pull in a match-high 32 digs. Haydel added 16 digs on defense to collect a double-double.

As for UM, it was Mayhew’s 16 kills leading the way as it was also a match-high in that category. Woods’ 12 kills was equally as impressive as the Round Rock, Texas native posted her sixth double-digit kills performance of the year. She also added two blocks and a dig.

Setter Gallagher collected 42 assists and eight digs, while Carico collected six kills and a season-high six blocks (five assisted). Ellis added eight kills and four digs to go along with three blocks.

Cassie Loessberg pulled in 23 digs on defense for the Orange and Green–a team-high in that column.

UM now falls to a tie for third place tonight after Florida State swept NC State over in Raleigh. Miami now trails first place by two matches, but needs a win in their last two matches against NC State and rival Florida State, as well as losses from FSU, Duke and UNC to earn a shot at their first-ever ACC title.

The Hurricanes will try and regroup before traveling 15 miles across the RDU area to nearby Raleigh and facing N.C. State beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday. The match will have live stats available through Game Tracker at www.hurricanesports.com.