The UNC volleyball team is partying like it’s 2016. The Tar Heels received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament Sunday night, and will appear in the tournament for the first time in five seasons.

Carolina will face Tennessee in their opening round match. The Volunteers finished this season 19-9 overall and 11-7 in the SEC. Their most notable result of the season is a five-set win over then-No. 9 Baylor, who appeared at No. 7 in the latest national rankings. Tennessee followed that win up with a close 3-2 loss to then-No. 7 Pittsburgh, who defeated Carolina in four sets earlier this season. The Volunteers received votes as the No. 27 team in the country in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.

In an interesting coincidence, Tennessee’s head coach, Eve Rackham Watt, was a player and longtime assistant at UNC under head coach Joe Sagula. Rackham Watt played for Carolina from 1999-2002, and then spent nine seasons on the bench with Sagula in Chapel Hill, and won the AVCA Division I Assistant Coach of the Year award in 2014, when UNC finished 29-3 and reached the Elite Eight. Rackham Watt left Carolina for Tennessee in 2018. It is her first head coaching job in NCAA volleyball.

UNC finished this season 21-8 overall and 10-8 in ACC play, their best mark since the 2016 season in which the team finished 29-4 and reached the Sweet 16. Carolina was undefeated in non-conference matches this season and ended with a sparkling 11-3 record away from Carmichael Arena: 8-3 in true road environments and 3-0 on neutral courts.

UNC and Tennessee will face off in Columbus, OH, on Friday, December 3 at 5 p.m. The two teams are part of the four-team pod hosted by No. 9 national seed Ohio State. The Buckeyes finished the season 25-5 overall and will face Howard in the first round.

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