Match Stats
- 7-seed UNC def. Coastal Carolina 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-16)
- UNC advances to the Sweet 16 where they play 10-seed UCLA
- Carmichael Arena, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Attendance: 1,521
Coastal Carolina pulled out a gritty first set on Saturday night in Chapel Hill, but eventually succumbed to a relentless North Carolina attack as the 7th-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels advanced to the Sweet 16 on Saturday night. This marks the 3rd time in program history that UNC has advanced as far in the NCAA tournament.
Coastal Carolina outhit the home team Tar Heels in the first set .288-.220, but coming out of the side change, UNC was on a defensive mission. They gave up just 8 kills, and forced 7 errors, in set 2 to event the game at 1-1.
From there-on, North Carolina’s offense heated up, hitting .406 and .500 in the 3rd and 4th sets, respectively, to cruise to victory.
UNC had 3 players in double figures hitting, paced by Hayley McCorkle‘s 14 kills and .565 percentage.
Taylor Fricano and Beth Nordhom dominated the middle, combining for 19 hits, 8 block assists, and 4 huge solo blocks from Fricano. In total, UNC out-blocked Coastal Carolina 12.5-5.
“I think the work that [Fricano] and Beth did, and the work on the outside [gave me opportunities to score],” said McCorkle. “They went in with aggressive approaches, and that opened up the right-side attack. Our passers got a lot of balls up to the net, so I think it was a matter of team effort.”
“We’re just really excited about what happened tonight: we faced a really strong team in the first set, and we just had to stay patient and let our game come around,” UNC head coach Joe Sagula said after the game. “It comes down to serving and passing, and I thought our serving was tough enough. Our passing was not strong early, but once that started to settle in…we could get our middles involved. We had better balance, without question.”
Sagula was also very complimentary of the Coastal Carolina effort.
“I want to congratulate Coastal Carolina for having a great year,” said Sagula. “They were really good tonight. That first set was really tough. They came out playing unbelievable defense, and what can I say about Leah Hardeman? She was phenomenal, and she’s definitely a force for that team.”
Hardeman had a phenomenal game, charting 25 kills and 13 digs. That marks the second-straight year that she’s had at least 25 kills in an NCAA Tournament game – last year, she had 27 against #16 Creighton.
With the win, the ACC Champion Tar Heels advance to play 10-seed UCLA, who swept Baylor 3-0 on Saturday. While regional sites have not been confirmed, that game is likely to be played in Minneapolis at the University of Minnesota.
Videos
Highlights from tonight's win over Coastal Carolina as we clinch a spot in the #Sweet16: https://t.co/qOc9KMwbc7
— Carolina Volleyball (@UNCVolleyball) December 4, 2016
.@UNCVolleyball is headed to the Sweet 16!! #GoHeels pic.twitter.com/JfNpQlllyu
— UNC Tar Heels (@GoHeels) December 4, 2016
Press Releases
Courtesy UNC Athletics:
CHAPEL HILL – The seventh-seeded Tar Heels took down a surging Coastal Carolina team, 3-1, on Saturday night, to advance to NCAA Regionals for the third time in program history. No. 6 North Carolina dropped a tight first set, 25-23, but a late push in the second evened the match, 25-19, and the Heels cruised for the remainder of the match, 25-17, 25-16. With the win, UNC improves to 29-3, while Coastal’s record-breaking season comes to an end at 28-5.
“First of all, I want to congratulate Coastal Carolina for having a great year,” said head coach Joe Sagula. “They were really good tonight. That first set was really tough. They came out playing unbelievable defense, and what can I say about Leah Hardeman? She was phenomenal, and she’s definitely a force for that team.
“We’re just really excited about what happened tonight: we faced a really strong team in the first set, and we just had to stay patient and let our game come around. It comes down to serving and passing, and I thought our serving was tough enough. Our passing was not strong early, but once that started to settle in…we could get our middles involved. We had better balance, without question.”
Senior right-side hitter Hayley McCorkle had a career night, hitting .565 with a season-high 14 kills, making just a single error. Middle hitters Beth Nordhorn and Taylor Fricano were also extremely efficient, as Nordhorn slammed a career-high 11 kills on just 15 swings (.667), while Fricano hit .500 with eight kills and no errors.
“I think the work that [Fricano] and Beth did, and the work on the outside [gave me opportunities to score],” said McCorkle. “They went in with aggressive approaches, and that opened up the right-side attack. Our passers got a lot of balls up to the net, so I think it was a matter of team effort.”
Taylor Leath registered her ninth double-double of the year with 13 kills and 11 digs, and freshman Taylor Borup hit .438 with seven kills and no errors.
Senior setter Abigail Curry put up 30 assists in the match, while freshman Mariah Evans recorded her second career double-double with 18 assists and 10 digs. The pair directed UNC to an impressive .310 clip, Carolina’s 14th match hitting .300 or better this season.
Senior libero Sheila Doyle registered her 10th 20-dig performance of the year with a team-high 21 digs, moving her total to 561 on the season which ranks seventh all time in program history.
Carolina out-blocked Coastal, 12.5-5.0, in the match, led by eight stuffs by Fricano. The junior middle stuffed a team-season-high four solo blocks while teaming up on four assists. With back-to-back assisted blocks in the fourth set, she moved past former teammate Paige Neuenfeldt (2014) into third place all time in single-season block assists with 138. She is just four shy of all-time leader Krista Buchholz’s 142 from 2000 and two behind Neuenfeldt’s 2015 total. Additionally, Nordhorn assisted on four blocks in the match, and Borup stuffed three.
“I’ve been working on just being more pressed in general,” said Fricano. “Honestly, our serving was really helpful. It gave me the opportunity to see the court better and put them in a tougher position. If you see good blocking numbers, it’s definitely because of good serving.”
A pair of kills by Leah Hardeman and Tahleia Bishop gave Coastal Carolina an early 5-2 lead which the Chanticleers extended to 14-10, but two kills and a block by McCorkle tied the score at 14. CCU pushed back in front, 19-16, but UNC came back to tie the score once again at 21 on a kill by Leath. Another Leath kill tied it at 22 and a kill by Nordhorn knotted the score at 23, but Carolina was unable to overtake the lead, and a solo block by Alise Petersone closed it for the Chanticleers, 25-23.
Coastal raced ahead 6-1 to start the second set, but a great service run by Julia Scoles and three kills by McCorkle cut the deficit to one, 8-7. Another McCorkle kill tied the score at 14, but once again, the Chanticleers took the lead right back, 16-14. However, a fantastic service run by Leath, including two-straight blocks by Nordhorn and Borup, gave the Tar Heels a late 21-17 lead, and Fricano and Borup finished it off with consecutive kills to win the second, 25-19, and even the match.
Kills by three different Tar Heels gave Carolina an immediate 3-0 lead as Coastal was quick to call a timeout. The Chanticleers replied with two kills, but a fantastic serving run by Doyle pushed UNC ahead 15-6, and the Tar Heels never looked back. A great tip by Taylor Treacy made it 23-14, and an attack error ended the frame, 25-17.
Carolina opened up a quick 6-1 lead with the help of two solo blocks by Fricano, and the Tar Heels just kept driving. Curry stepped behind the service line with a 22-16 lead and served out the match, as Fricano, Leath and McCorkle each struck kills to end the night with a 25-16 victory and close the match in four sets.
“We’re excited that we were able to play and get better as the match went on,” said Sagula. “We can carry this momentum into the next round. I told our team this doesn’t come easy, and to be in the top 16 is a big deal. I’m really proud of what they did.”
The Tar Heels, who advanced to Sweet 16 for the second time in three years, will return to the site of the 2014 NCAA Regionals as they head to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for a regional hosted by #2-seed Minnesota. Carolina will face the winner of tonight’s match between #10-seed UCLA and Baylor on Friday, Dec. 9, with the winner advancing to face #either 2 Minnesota or #15 Missouri.
Courtesy Coastal Carolina Athletics:
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Coastal Carolina volleyball team ended its historic 2016 season Saturday night as the Chanticleers fell in four sets (25-23, 19-25, 17-25, 16-25) to #7 North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Carmichael Arena.
Coastal closes the season with a 28-5 overall record, marking the program’s highest win total in a season. The Chants also won the program’s first NCAA Tournament match with a five-set victory over James Madison in the tournament’s opening round.
Leah Hardeman led Coastal against the Tar Heels with a match high of 25 kills, a .377 hitting percentage and 13 digs. It is the second straight year that the junior outside hitter has put down at least 25 kills in an NCAA Tournament match, as she landed a career-high 27 shots against #16 Creighton in 2015. Saturday’s performance also marked Hardeman’s 14th double-double of the season.
Sara Boothe and Carla Cahill also registered match-highs of 30 assists and 28 digs, respectively. Natasa Savovic paced the Chants in blocks with four.
North Carolina hit .310 as a team while limiting Coastal to .178. The Tar Heels also finished with 12.5 team blocks to Coastal’s five.
The Tar Heels were led by the 14 kills and .565 hitting percentage of Hayley McCorkle. Taylor Leath put down 13 kills, and Beth Nordhorn had 11 with a .667 hitting percentage. Taylor Fricano paced UNC with eight blocks.
Hardeman recorded eight kills and eight digs to lead the Chants in their opening-set win. Coastal was ahead for the majority of the set and even led by as many as five points, though UNC continued to battle back and even the score on seven occasions. The Chants went in front for good after Hardeman’s eighth kill gave CCU set point, and Alise Petersone stuffed Leath at the net to finish it off.
The Chants stayed hot to start the second set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead and forcing UNC into an early timeout. Coming out of the break the Tar Heels managed to trim CCU’s lead to just one point, an advantage Coastal would hold until the midway point of the set. UNC overtook the lead at 18-17, and closed the set on 7-2 run thanks to four team blocks.
UNC took the match lead with a 25-17 win in the third set. The Tar Heels hit .406 as team and were led by the four kills of McCorkle. Nordhorn and Taylor Borup also put down three apiece as UNC took an early 10-6 lead, then used a 7-1 run to push further in front. Coastal’s Hardeman had her second eight-kill set of the match.
UNC led for the entirety of the final set, jumping out to an early 11-4 lead and using a .500 hitting percentage to finish off the match. The Tar Heels recorded 4.5 team blocks and had six players put down multiple attacks. Hardeman closed the match with six kills.
Saturday’s match was the final one for Chanticleer seniors Savovic, Tahleia Bishop and Annayka Legros. Legros led Coastal to its first NCAA Tournament win with 19 kills against JMU on Friday, was a first team All-Sun Belt selection in 2016 and finishes her career ranked second on Coastal’s all-time list in hitting percentage. Bishop was named the 2016 Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year, and the Chanticleers won 53 matches over the past two seasons with Savovic in the lineup.
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