Tiger Volleyball Falls At North Carolina, 3-0, On Friday Night

Oct. 24, 2008

CHAPEL HILL, NC – A late third-set run by the Tigers fell short as the Clemson volleyball team fell to the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-21), on Friday night. The teams played in front of a crowd of nearly 14,000 at the Dean Smith Center in attendance for North Carolina’s Late Night With Roy Midnight Madness event, which followed the volleyball match.

The loss snapped a seven-match winning streak for the Tigers, dropping them to 15-6 overall and 7-3 in the ACC. The Tar Heels improved to 12-9 on the year with a 6-4 conference record.

Danielle Hepburn led all hitters with 15 kills on the night and hit .500 with just one error. Lia Proctor also hit in double figures with 11 on the night for the Tigers.

Lauren Prussing and Suzanne Haydel each tallied 11 kills to lead the North Carolina offense. Heather Brooks recorded three block assists and Brianna Eskola had 23 defensive saves for the defense.

Trailing 18-7 in the third set, Clemson scored six of the next eight points to cut the Tar Heel advantage to seven at 20-13. Brittany Fennell. North Carolina then scored its 21st point before a kill by Lacy Hayes returned the service to Clemson and Hayes combined with Fennell for a block to put the Tigers within one point at 21-20. A kill by Haydel gave the edge back to Tar Heels as they then scored three straight. Clemson avoided match point with a North Carolina attack error, but Courtney Johnson came right back to score the final point of the night.

Clemson struck first in the opening set, winning the first three points on kills by Hepburn and Proctor. The Tar Heels were then able to limit Tiger runs the rest of the way while putting together three of their own for four or more points. North Carolina pulled ahead, 18-13, following four straight points while capitalizing on Clemson miscues. The Tigers were able to close within two several times, but the Tar Heels responded each time and closed out the set (25-22) on a kill by Johnson.

Clemson hit a .324 clip in the set and posted 18 kills, led by Hepburn’s seven kills on 13 attempts, but North Carolina committed fewer errors and took advantage of several from the Tigers for the win.

The Tar Heels used an early six-point run to jump ahead, 11-5, and again held Clemson without a significant run of its own. Following a successful hitting performance in the first set, the Tiger offense struggled in the second with just 12 kills and a .175 hitting percentage. Hepburn stayed strong with four kills and no errors, but the senior from Miami, FL had just seven attempts. The lead stretched to nine at 21-12 with North Carolina winning the set, 25-19.

The Tigers will face NC State on Saturday night in Raleigh, NC. The teams are slated for a 5:00 pm start at Reynolds Coliseum.