Tar Heels Rally to Defeat Pittsburgh in Five

PITTSBURGH – North Carolina emerged victorious after another five-set comeback, defeating Pittsburgh 3-2 (25-20, 21-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-10) Friday night in Fitzgerald Fieldhouse.

Chaniel Nelson led the Tar Heel attack as she poured in her season-high 15 kills, nine blocks and three digs for the match. Paige Neuenfeldt added eight kills and a season-high 10 blocks, as Carolina tallied a season-high 18 team blocks for the match.

“We were very fortunate to get a win here tonight,” said Head Coach Joe Sagula. “Pitt is a very good team who served well and attacked our passers. They were able to pressure us and force our team out of system early in the match.”

“It took our players focusing in on themselves and our team settling down to get in a rhythm in the fourth set. I give lots of credit to Chaniel Nelson, who attacked the ball extremely well tonight, and Jordyn Schnabl, Ece Taner and Abigail Curry for really serving tough and inspiring our team.”

In set one the Tar Heels spread out the offense and earned three kills from four players with a .306 team hitting percentage.  UNC held the Pitt offense to a .237 efficiency by forcing six attack errors in the set.

Pittsburgh grabbed an early 6-4 lead in set one, but North Carolina kept within striking distance thanks to two early kills from Nelson. The Tar Heels earned their biggest lead at 23-19 then cruised to a 25-20 set one victory.

After Carolina jumped to an early lead in set two, the Panthers responded with an 18-3 run to take a ten-point lead at 18-7.  Pitt maintained the advantage to game point at 24-15, but UNC made a run on the serve of Lauren McAdoo before falling in set two 25-21. McAdoo had four aces during the six-point run before the Panthers were able to side-out for the victory.

The Pittsburgh net defense dominated set two with six team blocks, led by Jenna Potts with four blocks. After a solid offensive performance in set one the Tar Heels attacked at a -.030 percentage with nine hitting errors as a team.  Nelson continued to lead the charge with four kills and two blocks in the set.

After gaining momentum towards the end of set two the Tar Heels were unable to keep the run going in the third frame.  A service error and then a kill from Pittsburgh's Kate Yeazel left North Carolina with a 2-0 deficit before the Panthers extended the lead to 7-3.

The Tar Heels stayed close all set due to the strong offensive performance of Victoria McPherson, who knocked down three kills on only four swings in the set.  Her counterpart in the middle, Neuenfeldt, knocked down a kill and a block late in set three as UNC made a run to cut the Pitt lead to 19-18.

Pittsburgh responded with two straight points to regain separation before finishing off set three 25-21 on an ace from Lindsey Zitzke.

The Tar Heels faced a 2-1 deficit for the first time on the road but opened the fourth set with a kill from Tatiana Durr and an ace by Ece Taner.  UNC pushed the lead to 6-2 after a Pitt attacker swung wide and Curry dropped in an ace.

Taner led the UNC comeback from the service line, grabbing three aces in set four. After consecutive kills from Nelson pushed the Carolina lead to 13-9, Pittsburgh would get no closer than three points the rest of the set. North Carolina finished set four 25-19 behind two Taner aces, sending the match to a decisive fifth set.

The two teams brought little long match experience into the contest Friday. While the Tar Heels had only been in one previous five-set match, a 3-2 victory over Kentucky, Pittsburgh had played no five-set matches so far through the 2014 season.

North Carolina opened set five with a stuff block by Nelson and McPherson before sprinting to 7-2 advantage.  Pittsburgh cut the UNC lead to 9-5 after a mishandled ball on the Tar Heel side, but a kill from McCorkle stopped the run.

The Panthers made a second push in set five by cutting the Carolina lead to 11-9 after an ace by Jenna Jacobson, but a 4-1 run by the Tar Heels to finish the match gave UNC the win, 15-10 in set five.

Hayley McCorkle again pulled relief duties by entering the match in set four and knocking down six kills in just two sets of action. Setters Jordyn Schnabl and Curry combined for 40 assists in the match, and Schnabl added six digs while Curry had seven digs and three service aces.

Victoria McPherson had five kills and six blocks on a .304 attack percentage.

Senior libero Ece Taner finished the match with 13 digs, five aces, and one assist. Four of those five aces came in sets four and five as the Tar Heels mounted a tremendous comeback on the road. Sophomore Tatiana Durr added six digs, one service ace, and one block in four sets of action.

“This match again showcased several players coming off the bench and playing big roles for us. Tatiana Durr helped strengthen our defense and passing in this match, coming up big in sets four and five.”

“Hayley McCorkle, again, was the closer, putting balls away when we needed it,” said Sagula. 

The Tar Heels (11-2, 2-1 ACC) will stay on the road this weekend as they travel down to play Clemson at 1 p.m. on Sunday in Jervey Gymnasium. The match will be streamed live on ESPN3, and live stats will be provided through clemsontigers.com.