CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Virginia volleyball team dropped a four-set match to North Carolina Friday evening at the Dean E. Smith Center by scores of 17-25, 14-25, 25-19 and 16-25.
Sophomore Simone Asque led the way with 12 kills and 12 digs for her fifth double-double this season. Senior Tara Hester collected a season-best 21 digs, while senior Brittani Rendina led the backline with 24.
Freshman Jess O'Shoney hit .300 for the match, contributing eight kills and blocking four attacks. Classmate Rachel Gray dished out 30 assists and had six kills.
For North Carolina (13-12, 9-5 ACC), three Tar Heels reached double-figure kills, led by Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland, who knocked down 17. Kaylie Gibson led the defense with a match-high 30 digs and Cora Harms dished out 49 assists to go with 22 digs and four blocks.
Carolina used a 13-7 run midway through the first frame to break open an even 8-8 score and take a 21-15 lead, forcing the Cavaliers to call a timeout. Virginia was unable to recover from the deficit though, as the Tar Heels went on to score four of the final six points for a 25-17 win.
UNC jumped out to a seven-point advantage in the second set, at 11-4, and kept the pressure on before scoring the final four points of the stanza to take a commanding 25-14 victory.
The third set looked to be the same before the Cavaliers rallied for three-straight points to knot the score at seven all. Virginia continued to battle, but fell behind 14-17 before a kill from sophomore Tess Udall sparked a 3-0 run that knotted the score at 17 all. Another kill from Udall put the Cavaliers up 18-17 and Virginia never looked back, with Asque landing three kills in the final six points to earn a 25-19 win.
Another run in favor of Carolina put the Tar Heels up 6-1 at the beginning of the fourth set. Virginia worked to cut into UNC's advantage, and came within one at 6-7, but Carolina kept the Cavaliers from taking the lead. Virginia continued to fight, but back-to-back kills from Suzanne Haydel broke open the one-point set and sent the Tar Heels on a 3-0 run that eventually resulted in a 13-5 streak for a 25-16 win.
Virginia (10-15, 5-9 ACC) will look to rebound on Sunday as it faces NC State in Reynolds Gymnasium at 1 p.m.
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