The UNC volleyball team won 3-2 in an exciting five-set match against Duke Wednesday afternoon at Carmichael Arena.
With the win, Carolina improves to 25-2 overall and remains in first place in the ACC standings. Duke drops to 21-7 overall and 13-4 in the conference.
“I thought Duke was phenomenal and the defense was relentless today,” UNC Coach Joe Sagula says. “It was hard to put a ball down. But in the end we found enough good plays to win. We play against each other all the time and I think we both brought the best out of each other today.”
Lauren McAdoo had 14 kills for UNC with two aces, two blocks and seven digs. Senior Ece Taner had a career-high 30 digs while Leigh Andrew led North Carolina with a career-high 18 kills and 15 digs in the match.
“Leigh had 18 kills to lead us and was so sneaky. Lauren McAdoo, I thought she had a career day. And in terms of her play, her attitude, her mentality, she did, this was her best match,“ Sagula says.
UNC was able to clinch the first set, 25-19, but had a slower start in the second set and fell short to Duke, 24-26. The back-and-forth match continued as Carolina took the 3rd set, 25-19, and Duke took it right back in the 4th set, 32-30, to tie up the match.
Senior Chaniel Nelson won the match for the Tar Heels in the 5th set, 15-13, knocking a kill off a block from the Blue Devils. The Tar Heels will play Wake Forest Friday at Carmichael at 2 p.m. to round out the regular season.
“Right now, I told them tomorrow that we are coming to practice, because Friday is the day that we play to win a championship,” Sagula says.
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