The UNC volleyball team opened its regular season in style on Thursday night, going on the road and defeating the Virginia Tech Hokies by a score of 3-1 (25-22, 24-26, 25-15, 25-20).

Virginia Tech got revenge on Friday night, however, holding off a frenetic Tar Heel rally for a 3-2 victory (25-18, 27-25, 21-25, 22-25, 15-10) in five sets.

Freshman Aziah Buckner led the Tar Heels with 14 kills in Thursday’s match, while junior Destiny Cox–a Preseason All-ACC selection–added 12 kills of her own.

Chapel Hill native Kaya Merkler also made her debut for the Tar Heels and was outstanding, ending the night with eight kills and seven blocks.

After a slow start that saw the teams split the first two sets, UNC took control and dominated each of the final two sets to take the victory.

The Tar Heels had a final hitting percentage of .174 and racked up 12.5 blocks as a team compared to only six for Virginia Tech.

In Friday’s match, Parker Austin led the Tar Heels with 17 kills followed by Buckner–who set a new career-high with 15.

Virginia Tech’s hitting percentage of .297 ultimately proved too much to overcome for UNC, which hit just .199.

Up Next:

The Tar Heels will have their first home matches of the season on Friday, Oct. 9 and Sunday, Oct. 11, when Virginia comes to Chapel Hill.

Photo via Virginia Tech Athletics

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