Nov. 7, 2008

Box Score

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The North Carolina volleyball team moved into a tie for first in the Atlantic Coast Conference Friday night in Charlottesville, Va. as the Tar Heels held on for a 3-2 (25-23, 25-20, 25-27, 22-25, 15-7) win over the Cavaliers. Redshirt freshman Courtney Johnston led the Tar Heel attack with 18 kills, while committing just five errors on the night. Carolina will look to extend its winning streak to six Saturday night when the Tar Heels take on Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. at 6 p.m. The match can be seen on ACC Select.

The Tar Heels cruised in the opening two sets and looked to make it three straight sweeps after Carolina took down Boston College and Maryland, 3-0, a week ago. Carolina led from the opening point through the first two sets with only one tie in the opening set win and a pair of ties in the second. Carolina led by as many as eight (19-11) in the opening set before Virginia battled back late to pull within a single point at 24-23 before senior Lauren Prussing deposited a kill for the 25-23 win.

Virginia would make another late charge in the second set as well tying the set at 17-17, with a 4-0 run after Carolina controlled the play in the early going. Following a Carolina timeout Courtney Johnston tallied a pair of kills and the Wahoos committed an attack error putting Carolina back in front at 20-17 forcing a Virginia timeout. Johnston would pick up three more kills before the Tar Heels put away the set at 25-20 to take what seemed to be a commanding 2-0 lead.

Virginia controlled the tempo in the third set as neither team could get their offenses going and both finished hitting below .100 in the set. The Cavaliers held a 17-14 advantage late in the set before Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland delivered a kill and then stepped to the service line and proceeded to serve five consecutive points for the Heels as they looked to close the match out and held a 19-17 advantage. Virginia would answer with a run of their own evening the score at 22-22 before trading the next two points. After a Carolina timeout, Prussing tallied a kill to put Carolina within a point of the win. A Virginia kill and a Carolina attack error put the momentum back on the Wahoos side before Hanson-Tuntland evened the score at 25-25. Back-to-back points by Virginia, a kill and a service ace, closed out the set at 27-25 and changed the complexion of the match entirely.

The Cavaliers were the first team to 15 in the fourth set, taking a 15-12 advantage as Carolina would not let Virginia pull away. The Tar Heels would chip away and pull within two (16-14) before Megan Owens delivered a pair of kills to tie things up at 16-16. A 3-0 run by Virginia was immediately answered with a 4-1 run by Carolina forcing Virginia into a timeout at 20-20. The teams would trade the next four points before the Cavaliers forced a decisive fifth set with a pair of kills and a block for the 25-22 win.

Carolina would not be denied its fifth straight win despite dropping sets three and four as the Tar Heels took a commanding 7-1 lead. Senior Brianna Eskola served the Tar Heels to the large advantage as Heather Brooks completely dominated the net. Following a Virginia attack error that made the score 2-1 in favor of Carolina Brooks deposited a pair of Stephanie Jansma sets before the Cavaliers called a timeout. The break did not slow down Brooks one bit as she teamed with Suzanne Haydel for a block to make the score 5-1. Brooks followed up the block with two more kills giving Carolina an insurmountable 7-1 advantage. The Tar Heels would cruise from that point for the 15-7 set five win and 3-2 match win.

Johnston finished the night with a team-high 18 kills, while Brooks added in 14 kills of her own. Outside hitters, Lauren Prussing and Suzanne Haydel, finished third and fourth on the squad in kills on the night with Prussing tallying nine and Haydel chipping in eight to go along with her 24 digs. The Tar Heels entered the week ranked third in the country in digs and turned in their third 100-plus dig night with 114 as freshman Kaylie Gibson set a new career high dig mark with 26 on the night. Senior Brianna Eskola continued her march towards the ACC career dig mark with a team-high 30 on the night, her fourth match of the year with 30 or more, and now sits 106 shy of the mark of 2,200.

Carolina has won five straight matches for the first time since a six-match winning streak near the end of 2007. With Clemson's 3-1 loss at Duke Friday night, Carolina moved into a four-way tie for first in the ACC with the Tigers, Duke and Georgia Tech with identical 10-4 records.