Tar Heels victorious in ACC opener.
The UNC volleyball team kicked off its Atlantic Coast Conference season Thursday night by defeating the Virginia Cavaliers in three games (30-18, 30-21, 30-17) at Carmichael Auditorium in Chapel Hill. With the win, the Tar Heels improve to 7-3, 1-0 in the ACC, while Virginia goes to 4-4, 0-1 in conference action.
As a team, Carolina outhit the Cavaliers .400 to .149 for the match and had 51 kills compared to 28 for Virginia. The Tar Heels also had four players hit at least .500 for the match - Holly Strauss (.769), Eve Rackham (.667), Molly Pyles (.667) and Katie Wright (.500).
UNC took the first game, 30-18, behind excellent hitting from Nicole Reis (6 kills), Strauss (3 kills) and Wright (3 kills). Malaika Underwood also had 11 assists in the game.
Virginia rushed out to a 16-8 lead in game two before Tar Heel coach Joe Sagula took a time out. Carolina responded by outscoring the Cavaliers 22 to 5 after the time out to take the game 30-21. Laura Greene and Rackham each contributing three kills during the run with Rackham hitting 1.000 for the game.