UNC Volleyball Soaring To New Heights

The North Carolina volleyball team set a new program-high ranking of No. 8 in the updated AVCA Coaches Poll released Monday. The 18-2 Tar Heels are in the midst of an historic season and show no signs of slowing down.

Head coach Joe Sagula has seen it all on the volleyball court. He’s been in the business for 34 seasons, 24 of them at Carolina.

But in the past two years, his squad has enjoyed record-breaking success. His No. 8 Tar Heels have now been ranked for 26 straight weeks, the longest streak in program history.

Assistant coach Eve Rackham says last Friday’s dominant 3-0 sweep of Miami shows the team is peaking at the right time with postseason play less than a month away.

“It was a really good team win. That’s the best our two outside hitters have played together in a couple matches. It was nice to see them score for us. The transition game wasn’t as strong as I’d like it be, but in terms of siding out, that’s one of the best matches we’ve had all year,” Coach Rackham says.

Assistant coach Eve Rackham (UNC Athletics)

Junior Leigh Andrew stands out for the Tar Heels. Andrew had 15 kills and 9 digs in the Miami win.

Coach Rackham says Andrew’s versatility makes her a dynamic teammate and has helped her emerge as one of the best athletes on the UNC roster.

“Leigh is such a talented player. I think the more she believes she’s talented, she’s only going to get better. She can do everything for us. She passes half the court, she’s taking front row swings, back row swings, and she’s one of our best blockers. She does so much for us. I think sometimes she gets undervalued,” Coach Rackham says.

Andrew identifies accurate serving as the key to Carolina’s chances moving forward. With a 9-1 mark in the ACC, it’s hard to imagine there’s much room for improvement, but Andrew says a clean serving day takes the Tar Heels to another level.

“It was such a crisp game. We were really locked in all three sets. We left it all out on the court. In the second set, our service errors were huge – we had none. In the first set, we had seven. When we serve in and serve aggressive, it brings a good vibe to our team,” Andrew says.

Leigh Andrew (UNC Athletics)

Junior Paige Neuenfeldt says Andrew is critical to Carolina’s success and believes the Miami win will give the team even more confidence. The Hurricanes were a formidable opponent with their lone ACC losses going into the UNC match coming to No. 25 Duke and No. 3 Florida State.

“Leigh [Andre] played great. She had so many awesome shots and was tearing apart their defense. Miami is a really tough team. We knew coming in it was going to be a tough match. I’m really happy we could come out and win that 3-0. It was pretty impressive,” Neuenfeldt says.

Next up for the surging Tar Heels, who have only dropped a pair of sets in their last seven conference matches, will be road trip up to Chestnut Hill to take on the Boston College Eagles Friday night at 7 p.m.

UNC Volleyball Soaring To New Heights

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