MURFREESBORO, TN – North Carolina opened the 2013 season in dominant fashion, sweeping Notre Dame 3-0 Friday in the Tar Heels’ first of three matches at Middle Tennessee’s Blue Raider Bash.

Leigh Andrew‘s 11 kills and eight digs combined with Paige Neuenfeldt‘s six blocks and five kills ensured the Tar Heels never wavered through three solid sets of play.

“It’s great to get a start like this against a team we have a lot of respect for,” head coach Joe Sagulasaid. “I was very pleased with how well our team came out to play tonight. They seemed really focused through all three sets. We passed really well and had really good balance in our attack. All of our pin players scored well, and our middles did a great job at the right times. ”

UNC saw 12 different Tar Heels on the court throughout the match, giving a glimpse of the depth Carolina has in this year’s squad.

“It was a great team effort and really shows the potential we have this year,” Sagula said. “We have a lot of depth, and we were able to have a lot of people step into different roles. We spoke to our team and told them everyone has to be ready for whatever we need, and everybody responded really well.

Carolina opened the match with a solid 25-15 set one win, with sophomore Victoria McPhersonposting five kills. Jordyn Schnabl had six assists while Andrew, Jovana Bjelica and Ece Taner had two digs apiece.

The Tar Heels took set two 25-16 behind four kills from Andrew and Kayla Berringer before finalizing the victory with a 25-15 final set win as Andrew tallied another six kills and Neuenfeldt posted four blocks.

Berringer finished with eight total kills and three blocks, while Kaitlyn Anderson added six digs. Bjelica and Lauren Adkins combined for 11 kills and four blocks, and Abigail Curry served two aces in her first match for Carolina.

UNC continues play at the Blue Raider Bash with matches against San Francisco Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET and against host MTSU at 8:30 p.m. ET.  Follow live stats and watch live video of those matches here.

Related Stories
‹
Volleyball: UNC Outlasts No. 18 Notre Dame in Five Sets on Senior Day
It took all five sets on Sunday at Carmichael Arena, but the UNC volleyball team managed to hang on for a 3-2 upset victory on Senior Day over No. 18 Notre Dame. After winning the first two sets 25-23 and 25-21, the Tar Heels struggled to put the Fighting Irish away over each of the […]
Notre Dame Defeats UNC Volleyball in ACC Opener
The UNC volleyball team kicked off its ACC schedule Friday night at Carmichael Arena with a 3-0 loss in straight sets to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-25, 20-25, 22-25). Destiny Cox led the Tar Heels with 12 kills in the match, while Hunter Atherton was responsible for the assist on 31 of the team’s […]
Miami Sweeps UNC Volleyball in Regular Season Finale
Saturday marked the final regular season match of the season for the UNC volleyball team, a 3-0 loss on the road at Miami (19-25, 19-25, 21-25). Former Chapel Hill High School standout Kaya Merkler led the Tar Heels (10-8, 9-7 ACC) with 12 kills, but she was the only player to reach double figures in […]
No. 13 Louisville Rolls to Sweep Over UNC Volleyball
Taking on No. 13 Louisville in Coral Gables on Friday, the UNC volleyball team was defeated in straight sets 3-0 (15-25, 26-28, 18-25). UNC battled hard in the second set and nearly won it, but struggled for most of the night against the top team in the conference. Amanda Phegley led the Tar Heels (10-7, […]
No. 25 Florida State Holds Off UNC Volleyball in Five Sets
The UNC volleyball team came up just short of a big victory on Saturday in Pittsburgh, falling to No. 25 Florida State in five sets 3-2 (25-16, 12-25, 18-25, 25-21, 9-15). For the match, the Tar Heels (10-5, 9-4 ACC) tallied 12 service aces and received a team-high 15 kills from Chapel Hill native Kaya […]
UNC Volleyball Grinds Out a Win Over Wake Forest
After dropping the first set on Friday against winless Wake Forest, the UNC volleyball team recovered nicely for a hard-fought 3-1 victory (19-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-20) over the Demon Deacons at Carmichael Arena. Skyy Howard led the Tar Heels (9-4, 8-3 ACC) with a team-high 16 kills to go along with five blocks, while Chapel […]
UNC Volleyball Matches This Weekend in Atlanta Postponed
Due to COVID-19 contact tracing protocols, the UNC volleyball team postponed its scheduled matches this weekend against Georgia Tech and Boston College. The Tar Heels announced the news on Friday, stating that the decision was made out of an abundance of caution due to a positive test within a recent opponent’s program. UNC’s only matches […]
UNC Volleyball Outlasts Syracuse in Five-Set Thriller
Playing its first ACC match of the spring season on Friday in Chapel Hill, the UNC volleyball team held on for a 3-2 victory over Syracuse in a five-set thriller (14-25, 25-18, 25-21, 19-25, 18-16). Parker Austin led the way for the Tar Heels (8-3, 7-2 ACC) with a team-high 23 kills and 20 digs, […]
ECU Upsets UNC Volleyball in Straight Sets
In just the second game of the spring volleyball season on Sunday in Greenville, the Tar Heels fell victim to a 3-0 straight-set upset loss against East Carolina (23-25, 23-25, 16-25). Aziah Buckner led UNC with 13 kills, but no other Tar Heel reached double digits on a day where they fell behind by 10 […]
UNC Volleyball Opens Spring Season With Straight Set Victory Over Appalachian State
The UNC volleyball team opened its spring season on Thursday night at Carmichael Arena with a 3-0 victory over Appalachian State (25-15, 25-14, 25-13). With an incredible .466 hitting percentage, the Tar Heels dominated each of the three sets as they improved to 7-2 overall with the results from the fall carrying over to the […]
›