Virginia Falls 3-0 at No. 6 North Carolina
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Box Score Nov. 18, 2016
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Virginia volleyball team fell 3-0 (28-26, 25-16, 25-18) at No. 6 North Carolina on Friday night at Carmichael Arena.
Virginia (7-22, 4-13 ACC) finished with 40 kills on a .231 hitting percentage, while North Carolina (25-3, 17-1) tallied 47 kills with a .364 attack percentage. UNC led in aces (8-1) and blocks (7.5-5.0).
The Cavaliers and Tar Heels saw 24 ties and nine lead changes in the match. The first set had 18 tie scores, seven lead changes and went into extra points.
“We played very hard tonight against one of the better teams in the country,” head coach Dennis Hohenshelt said. “Jasmine (Burton) and Haley (Kole) went toe to toe with their block and did a fantastic job. Lexi (Riccolo) was very good defensively for us again. We are starting to get some good production with Kiley Banker and we probably needed one more attacker to help us out. I am excited to see how this group rebounds for Sunday. I think we will be ready to battle for a win.”
Senior Haley Kole (Tallahassee, Fla.) led Virginia with 13 kills, recording six of those in the first set. Fellow senior Jasmine Burton (West Hills, Calif.) had 11 kills and freshman Kiley Banker (West Lafayette, Ind.) added eight. Julia Scoles led North Carolina with 10 kills.
Burton led the Cavaliers with four blocks on the night and senior Lexi Riccolo (Wheaton, Ill.) tallied a team-high 16 digs.
The teams traded points to open the first set with six ties. At 7-7, North Carolina pulled ahead with a 3-0 run to lead 10-7. Virginia bounced back quickly a 4-1 run to tie the set once again at 11. The set remained close until a 3-0 run put UVA in front 17-16 as North Carolina called timeout. A 3-1 run gave the lead back to UNC. The Cavaliers were down 21-20 when Burton landed three-straight kills to give UVA a 23-21 advantage. North Carolina scored two-straight to tie the set at 23. After several more ties and two set points for UVA, UNC edged out the 28-26 win.
Both teams continued to battle to begin the second set, but North Carolina used a 3-0 run to take a 10-7 lead. The Cavaliers stayed close until a 7-0 run gave the Tar Heels a 22-13 advantage. Freshman Jennifer Wineholt (San Diego, Calif.) halted the run with a kill and then two kills for Kole cut it to 24-16, but North Carolina took the set 25-16 to lead 2-0.
Virginia fell behind 6-1 in the third set. The Cavaliers cut it to four points several times, but UNC used a 5-1 run to stretch its lead to 14-6. Three-straight points that included kills by redshirt junior Alex Thorson (Spring, Texas) and Burton cut the UNC lead to 17-11. UVA called timeout down 21-14, and scored four of the next five points to cut the lead to four, but North Carolina scored the final three points to win the set 25-18.
The Cavaliers will remain on the road as they travel to Raleigh, N.C. to play NC State Sunday at 2 p.m. at Reynolds Coliseum.