The UNC volleyball team defeated Oregon 3-1 Friday night at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minn.

With the loss, the Ducks drop to 23-10.  The Tar Heels improve to 29-2 and advance to the Regional Final of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

“I thought we actually got better as the match went on,” UNC Coach Joe Sagula says. “We started slowly, but we never panicked and we made a run to come back.  Because of that, we’ve put ourselves in a great position for our program to make history.  I’m so proud of what these players have done and what our leaders have done to put us in the top eight for the first time ever.”

Chaniel Nelson led the Tar Heel’s offense with 14 kills and turning back six blocks. Paige Neuenfeldt added nine kills and four blocks.

“Oregon’s a great team. They run a fast offense, I mean our strength is in our block and they were leaving us one on one which is something we weren’t used to. So it took us a little while to get used to that but I think after we figured it out we started to do a really good job,” Neuenfeldt says.

Leigh Andrew unc volleyball

The Tar Heels and the Ducks battled it out in set one, as there were 11 tie scores throughout the set and the largest lead for either squad was four. Carolina eventually took the lead and Neuenfeldt scored the set point with a kill to seal the first set victory, 24-23.

The second and third sets were also close scoring as Carolina took the second set, 25-22, and Oregon took the third, 23-25. It was up to the fourth and final set to determine the game winner.

UNC cruised in the fourth set, holding Oregon to a .068 hitting efficiency in the set. Redshirt sophomore Taylor Treacy had three kills and hit .750 in the frame to lead Carolina to a 25-16 win and to secure the win, 3-1.

The Tar Heels will continue to play in Minnesota this weekend as they face Texas  Saturday fighting to earn a spot in the Final Four.

“I thought it was a great match for the Tar Heels and congratulations again to Oregon,” Sagula says. “We’re looking forward to the matchup with a completely different style of team tomorrow, which will be quite a challenge against Texas.”

FINAL BOX SCORE

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