Volleyball Upsets No. 23 South Carolina In NCAA First Round

Tar Heels face No. 8 Pepperdine Friday night.

Nov. 29, 2001

Powered by Malaika Underwood's triple double (12 kills, 11 assists, 10 digs), the UNC volleyball team upset 23rd-ranked South Carolina 3-1 (30-25, 30-32, 30-25, 30-21) Thursday night in Carmichael Auditorium in the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship first round. With the win, the Tar Heels (24-8) advance to Friday night's second round where they will face No. 8 Pepperdine (22-3) at 7:30 p.m.

"Obviously we're delighted to be moving on in the tournament," Carolina coach Joe Sagula said. "We knew this game would be pretty intense, a good battle. South Carolina played a great match. They really battled, and it was close the whole match. I feel fortunate that we pulled it out."

Setter Eve Rackham led the Tar Heels in assist (53) and digs (20), while outside hitter Laura Greene tallied a double-double (19 kills, 14 digs) for the Tar Heels who move to the NCAA second round for only the second time in UNC history. Defensive specialist Melissa Higgins also set a career-high in digs with 19. As a team, the Tar Heels held the Gamecocks to a .188 hitting percentage, while hitting .291 for the match.

"In Carmichael (Auditorium) we always play great defense," middle hitter Krista Buchhholz said. "It goes to show the home-court advantage."

For South Carolina, Cally Plummer posted 19 kills and a team-high 25 digs. Niece Curry led the squad in kills with 20, while Megan Hosp totaled 61 assists for coach Kim Christopher's squad.

Earlier in the evening, Pepperdine won their first-round matchup with Georgia Southern, 3-0 (30-21, 30-22, 30-22), to set up Friday's contest with Carolina