Nov. 2, 2008

Box Score

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The North Carolina volleyball team picked up its fourth straight win Sunday afternoon in College Park, Md. as the Tar Heels swept Maryland, 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-23), to improve to 15-9 overall and just a game behind Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Standings with a 9-4 record. Senior Lauren Prussing led Carolina with 14 kills on the day with a team-high hitting percentage of .433 as Carolina dropped Maryland to 6-19 overall and 2-11 in the ACC. The Tar Heels will look to keep it going as they close out the road portion of their schedule at Virginia (Nov. 7) and at Virginia Tech (Nov. 8).

The Tar Heels got off to another hot start in the opening set with 14 kills on a .312 hitting percentage. Prussing led the Tar Heel attack with five kills on eight attempts with no errors helping Carolina to the early 1-0 lead thanks to a 25-21 win. The teams traded the opening six points before Carolina gained a three-point edge at 9-6. The lead would immediately be stretched to seven thanks to a 4-0 run that saw a trio of Terrapin errors and a kill from Suzanne Haydel. Maryland would chip away at the lead and pull within two at 16-14 before committing three consecutive errors to give Carolina a 19-14 lead. Maryland would battle back within two once again at 21-19 forcing Carolina into a timeout needing just four points to win the set. Prussing and Christine Vaughen tallied back-to-back kills prior to a Maryland kill that made the score 23-20. Vaughen deposited another kill to put Carolina within a point of the win before the teams traded errors giving the Tar Heels a 25-21 win.

Carolina was able to claim a defensive struggle in the second set as the Tar Heels hit .135, while holding the Terrapins to a mark of -.029. The Terrapins and Tar Heels would find themselves tied at 6-6 in the early going as both teams struggled in the opening going. Courtney Johnston would get things going when she stepped to the service line. Lauren Prussing picked up one of her four kills in the set before Vaughen tallied a pair of kills with Johnston mixing in a service ace forcing Maryland into a timeout with the score leaning Carolina's way at 10-6. Coming out of the break Vaughen teamed with Stephanie Jansma for a block before Johnston capped off the 6-0 run with another ace to give Carolina a 12-6 advantage. The 6-0 run would spark Carolina the rest of the way in the second set as they stretched the lead to nine with the 25-16 win.

Maryland took an early 5-1 lead before extending that lead to 10-5. Carolina chipped away at the deficit and tied the set at 16-16 with an 11-6 run. The teams would trade the next two points before Carolina scored three straight to take a 20-17 advantage. Prussing got things started with a kill before Kelly Davies delivered a service ace prior to Maryland calling a timeout. Courtney Johnston delivered a kill after the break before Maryland tallied four consecutive points to regain the lead at 21-20. Prussing came through for the Tar Heels once again with three straight kills to give Carolina a 23-21 lead. The Terrapins used a Katie Usher kill and a solo block by Mary Beth Brown to tie things up at 23-23 before Prussing tallied kill number 14 on the day to put Carolina within a point of its second-straight sweep. A Maryland attack error would give Carolina the 25-23 set three win and a fourth consecutive win.

The outside hitter trio of Lauren Prussing, Courtney Johnston and Suzanne Haydel combined for 30 of Carolina's 40 kills on the day with Prussing tallying her fourth consecutive match with double-digit kills with 14, while Johnston and Haydel each finished with eight kills apiece. Brianna Eskola finished with 21 digs marking the 11th time the Columbia Heights, Minn., native has reached the 20-dig mark on the year. The Tar Heels will look to keep their winning streak alive on Friday, Nov. 7 at Virginia before closing out the road portion of their schedule at Virginia Tech the next night.