In a vote conducted by the ACC’s head volleyball coaches, UNC was unanimously selected to repeat as league champions in 2017.

The Tar Heels are fresh off a brilliant campaign in which they went 19-1 on the way to their 13th ACC Championship.

Head coach Joe Sagula has the blessing of returning the bulk of his starting lineup–including ACC Player of the Year Taylor Leath and ACC Freshman of the Year Julia Scoles.

“When you win a conference title and return the Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in addition to All-ACC performers, it is natural to expect similar competitive results,” Sagula said. “It is a compliment to all of our players that the ACC coaches have selected our team to maintain a high competitive level.”

UNC is the first unanimous preseason favorite in the conference since Florida State achieved the feat in 2013.

The Seminoles were chosen to finish second this season, with Pitt, Notre Dame and NC State rounding out the top five.

Regular season play is set to begin for the Tar Heels on Friday, August 25. They  will travel to Madison, Wisconsin to face a pair top-five teams–Minnesota and Wisconsin–as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

For the full preseason ACC volleyball poll, click here.

 

 

Photo via Jeffrey A. Camarati (UNC Athletics)

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