Match Stats
- #8 UNC def. Clemson 3-0 (25-16, 25-12, 15-11)
- North Carolina moves to 22-3 (14-1 ACC); Clemson falls to 6-21 (1-14 ACC)
- Chapel Hill, North Carolina
The North Carolina Tar Heels had their most efficient hitting performance of the season on Thursday evening, scoring 48 kills on 88 swings with just 5 errors for a .489 average in a 3-0 sweep of Clemson. That average is UNC’s highest of the season by more than 100 points as they hit their stride heading toward the NCAA tournament.
They simultaneously held Clemson to just a .047 hitting percentaget o dominate and only give up 38 points in 3 sets.
UNC balanced their attack, with kills from 10 different players, led by Hayley McCorckle at 9 kills and a .500 hitting average. Taylor Fricano added 7 kills and hit .875, connecting on all but 1 swing on the evening.
Press Releases
Courtesy UNC Athletics:
CHAPEL HILL – No. 8 North Carolina recorded one of its most efficient matches in program history on Friday night, cruising to a 3-0 (25-16, 25-12, 25-11) sweep of Clemson behind .489 hitting. Three Tar Heel starters hit at least .500 in the match, as UNC improved to 22-3 (14-1 ACC) on the season while Clemson slipped to 6-21 (1-14 ACC).
The Tar Heels led an extremely balanced attack, with senior Hayley McCorkle leading the charge with nine kills and no errors, hitting .500. Freshman Taylor Borup posted eight kills on just 10 swings for a .700 attack percentage, while Taylor Fricano was 7-for-8 with no errors for a nearly-flawless .875 clip. Julia Scoles and Beth Nordhorn each tallied eight kills in the match, while Nordhorn was up on six of the Heels’ 7.5 blocks.
“I can’t even say who stood out, because every one of them played so well,” said head coach Joe Sagula. “I think this is one of the best matches Hayley has played, without question. We were looking to rest her, but we said ‘There’s no way we can take her out,’ because she was playing so well.”
Tar Heel setters Mariah Evans (21 assists) and Abigail Curry (17) teamed up to lead Carolina to the second-highest team hitting percentage in rally-scoring history at .489. Friday’s match trailed only the Tar Heels’ .500 clip achieved on Oct. 25 of last season also against Clemson. The Tar Heels made just five errors in the match as compared to eight made in 2015’s record-setting performance.
Carolina spread around the digs as well, as libero Sheila Doyle led the match with 13, followed by seven each from Scoles and Curry and six by Evans.
Scoles ran off three service aces in the match, including her first two serves of the night, as part of a dominant serve and pass game for Carolina. The Tar Heels sided out at 80 percent for the night, including 10-for-11 in the third set, while Clemson sided out at just 41 percent.
“We worked on a couple things this week on our transition and free ball passing,” said Sagula, “and every time, it was almost like it was scripted when they did it. We actually executed exactly like we wanted. I thought we served really, really tough. Although we only had three aces, it felt like we had 10.”
“Our servers have been working really hard on getting back to the line and getting a really good ball,” added Nordhorn, “and that helps the blockers a lot. The harder we serve, the further off the net they pass, so it’s easier for us to block as well.”
A season-high 16 players saw action in the match, every single one of whom recorded a statistic. Keimaya Hunter registered her third career kill on her only swing in the third set, while Madison Laufenberg went 1-for-2 with a dig. Greer Moseman registered her first career assist and Tatiana Durr picked up her sixth kill of the season.
“We made a lot of (personnel) changes and we never dropped our level of play,” said Sagula. “That was significant. We had 16 people contribute, and I thought that was big for us. Everybody who got on the court had a stat, and that doesn’t always happen.”
Scoles served the Tar Heels to an early 5-1 lead sparked by back-to-back aces, and a strong service run by Taylor Leath extended the advantage to 13-6. Carolina continued to cruise, and a kill by Scoles closed out the opener in UNC’s favor, 25-16. The Heels outhit Clemson .406 to .139 in the set, led by five kills from Scoles.
A 6-0 run served out by Evans spotted the Tar Heels a 9-3 lead to start the second set, and Carolina again kept the pressure on, reaching set point, 24-9, on a kill by Durr. The Tigers wiped off three attempts, but a kill by McCorkle finished it out, 25-12. Fricano was a perfect 4-for-4 on the attack, while McCorkle also tallied four kills in the frame.
The Tar Heels scored on nearly every service possession in the third set, cruising to a 25-11 victory while hitting .654 with just one attack error. Nordhorn and Borup led the charge with four kills each on five swings apiece.
Carolina continues its homestand in less than 24 hours with a visit from Georgia Tech on Saturday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. Fans are encouraged to wear white to the match to participate in the “White Out” event, with the first 300 fans getting a free white “Carolina vs. Everybody” t-shirt. Additionally, free Bojangles will be available to the first 100 students in attendance.
Courtesy Clemson Athletics:
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 8 North Carolina (22-3, 14-1 ACC) took advantage of a banged up Clemson (6-21, 1-14 ACC) team on Friday night, defeating the Tigers in three sets (16-25, 12-25, 11-25). Leah Perri and Megan McGinley led Clemson’s offense while Emily Curtis once again turned in a solid effort in the back row.
“Obviously a tough one tonight,” said head coach Hugh Hernesman. “Being down to two middles in the program with Dejhana out for the year and Jaden out sick for the weekend, we had to improvise once again- moving Leah to the middle- and really only working on that lineup for a day.”
“While Leah does a fine job there, she’s also our leading point scorer and it’s difficult to get her enough balls in the middle to impact the match like she can on the outside. That being said, we were able to execute a few things that we’ve been working on the last couple weeks against a very talented and complete team.”
Perri and McGinley finished with a team-best six kills each on Friday night with McGinley earning a .267 hitting percentage. Freshman, Tori Woogk earned five kills while Sydney Moseley tallied four in her first start on the right side this season. Freshman, Curtis dug 12 of North Carolina’s attempts to register her 14th match this season with 10 digs or more.
Clemson wraps up the weekend with a 1:00 p.m., matchup with NC State on Sunday, November 11 in Reynolds Coliseum.
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