Hurricanes Drop North Carolina, 3-1
Nov. 12, 2004
Chapel Hill, N.C. – Senior Valeria Tipiana, junior Karla Johnson and sophomore Jill Robinson each posted double-doubles to lead the Hurricanes over ACC rival North Carolina, 3-1 (30-17, 18-30, 30-18, 31-29), for the second time this season Friday evening at UNC’s Carmichael Auditorium.
The Hurricanes (15-8 overall and 10-5 ACC) were tied with the Tar Heels for second place in the ACC heading into Friday’s match.
Tipiana posted a match high 21 kills and added 17 digs, two block assists and four assists. Johnson hit 17 kills and registered 10 digs, one service ace, two assists and two block assists.Robinson dished out 46 assists while recording 14 digs, two aces and three block assists.
The match also saw stellar defensive performances by redshirt sophomore Francheska Savage, redshirt freshman Ciara Michel and senior Jamie Grass. Savage posted six block assists while Michel registered eight total blocks (4BS, 4BA). Grass tallied a match-high 25 digs.
The Hurricanes opened the match with a dominating performance, jumping out to a 11-6 lead early in game one. Miami extended their lead with a four-point run to bring the score to 18-11. The Hurricanes capitalized on four North Carolina attacking errors to close out the game and take a 30-17 win. Miami held the Tar Heels to a match-low -.020 hitting percentage while forcing 12 errors.
A regrouped Tar Heels squad took the court in the second game. North Carolina never relinquished the lead and forced 11 Miami attacking errors. Blocking was the name of the game, with UNC posting six of their 15.0 blocks to take a 30-18 win.
The Hurricanes reversed the score in game three to take a 2-1 match lead. After trailing by three early in the game, the Hurricanes tied the score at six, and then took the lead after Robinson served up an ace between two Johnson kills. Miami stringed together four points to take the lead for good and eventually walk away with a 30-18 win.
Miami trailed through most of game four until they tied the score at 28-all. The Hurricanes went up 29-28 before UNC tied the score again at 29. A kill by Johnson and a North Carolina attack error broke the tie and gave the Hurricanes the 31-29 win and the match. Miami held North Carolina to a .069 hitting percentage while forcing 11 errors in the game.
As a team, the Hurricanes out-performed the Tar Heels in all but one category. Miami hit 63 kills, 61 assists and tallied 90 digs but were out blocked 14.0 to 15.0.
For the Tar Heels, Molly Pyles led with 20 kills and 19 digs. Dani Nyenhuis also posted a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs.
The Hurricanes return to action at NC State for their final regular season ACC match-up Sunday at 1:00 pm at the Wolfpack’s Reynolds Coliseum.
