CHAPEL HILL, N.C. \u2014 The No. 23 North Carolina Volleyball Team (13-4, 8-1 ACC) celebrated their homecoming after two weeks on the road with a 3-1 (25-21, 25-27, 25-17, 25-20) victory over California (15-5, 5-4 ACC) on Friday evening at Carmichael Arena<\/p>\n
“The value of a road win is the same as the value of a home win,” head coach Mike Schall<\/a> said. “However, we were tired of playing out of our suitcases\u2026We all love playing in this place in front of our fans.”\u00a0<\/p>\n The home atmosphere just might have been the seventh player on the court as Friday proved to be the night of several career-high performances.\u00a0<\/p>\n Junior opposite hitter Laynie Smith<\/a> led all players, tying her career-high 14 kills on a stellar .480 hitting percentage.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I really liked how Laynie [Smith] started the match,” Schall said. “In the rotation we typically start in, she’s not out there, but tonight we just felt like we needed to get her going early. And her first two swings she put through the floor.”<\/p>\n Jackie Taylor<\/a> \u2014 a junior middle blocker \u2014 also matched her career-best with 13 kills on a .385 efficiency while adding eight blocks.\u00a0<\/p>\n Freshman outside hitter Addison West<\/a> converted on 12 kills, setting a new career-high for the Nebraska native.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, junior libero Julia Bohlinger<\/a> and sophomore setter Sienna Cozza<\/a> kept the momentum moving for the Tar Heels. Bohlinger tallied a double-double with 18 digs and 10 assists, as Cozza passed for 12 digs and set 25 winners.<\/p>\n Reaching those outstanding numbers wasn’t a cakewalk, though.\u00a0<\/p>\n North Carolina struggled to find its groove early, but a pair of kills from Smith put the Tar Heels on the board leading to a perfect 4-4 in the opening set.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I feel really satisfied with seeing the work in practice paying off,” Smith said, giving kudos to her teammates. “Shoutout to the team, and especially Sienna [Cozza]. I felt like I had a bunch of options today, so I’m really excited about that.”<\/p>\n Settling in, UNC took its first lead at 9-8.<\/p>\n Several rallies later, West slammed home a strategic cross-court kill that barely kissed the far sideline, giving Carolina the largest advantage of the set so far at 15-11.<\/p>\n Cal elected to talk it over as UNC clung to its lead, 19-15. Only three points later, Cozza made a huge one-handed save that prepared a swing down the line from West, prompting another Golden Bears timeout.<\/p>\n Coming back to the court, Cal went on a 3-1 run however, Jackie Taylor<\/a> stopped the groove as she dropped in a whiffed tip then a ferocious swing to the center of the court during the final plays to give UNC a first set victory, 25-21. The Tar Heels hit .361 through the set.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sticking with attacks out of the middle and from the right side continued to work in Carolina’s favor. Smith stayed flawless, hammering home her fifth kill on her fifth attempt of the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n After a 5-1 run for Cal leading to a UNC timeout, coming out of the huddle, senior Safi Hampton<\/a> herself with her third kill of the night from the left antenna to stop the bleeding.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n West’s kill shot set up by senior setter Zoe Behrendt<\/a> brought the Tar Heels within one at 12-13. A quick tempo assist from Behrendt to right-side attacker Chelsea Thorpe<\/a>, a few rallies after, gave the Chicago native her sixth kill of the evening. It also marked Thorpe’s entrance into the 1,000 kill club.\u00a0<\/p>\n “She plays with a lot of love and passion and energy,” Schall said. “She’s been a blast to coach, and I think everybody in the locker room understands what she’s done for our program in her time here, but this year specifically, she’s just taken it to another level. A thousand kills \u2014 that’s a lot of balls put to the floor. I’m glad she’s done a lot of that wearing Carolina blue.”<\/p>\n Hampton exploded in the air for a back-row swing that zoomed to the back left corner of Cal’s side of the court, again bringing UNC within one point at 20-19.\u00a0<\/p>\n North Carolina found itself down three points, but rallied back to a smaller deficit at 22-23 when the Bears committed a double contact violation. Now, it was Cal in the hot seat. From there, a failed dump attempt from California’s Anna Flores tied the set’s score.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hampton and Taylor’s block sent the ball flying deep into Cal’s territory to bring it to set point for Carolina. However, the Bears successfully challenged that the ball landed out of bounds, thus flipping the score.\u00a0<\/p>\n The programs hailing from opposite coasts continued to trade points until a ball was nailed long as Cal took the second frame, 27-25, and evened the game, one set apiece.\u00a0<\/p>\n The third set was a back-and-forth affair at the start. Freshman defensive specialist Carly Markham<\/a> screamed, “hit that!” and graduate middle blocker Lauren Schutter<\/a> converted on a kill from the center to take an 8-6 lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Bears answered back, but UNC amassed a 5-1 stretch from there.\u00a0<\/p>\n Taylor denied Cal’s Cari Bohm for a monster block that capped off four straight Tar Heel points and signaled a 17-9 Carolina lead \u2014 the largest edge of the match for either team.\u00a0<\/p>\n That hole was too deep for the Bears to crawl out of. Taylor ended the frame with a similar awe-inspiring denial at the net \u2014 this time with the help of West \u2014 and North Carolina took set three, 25-17.<\/p>\n The fourth set turned into a game of runs as Cal went on a 6-1 run to go up 8-4 early in the frame.<\/p>\n But then UNC stormed back on an incredible 9-1 tear. That stretch was highlighted by a blocking machine in the front row, with Thorpe, Taylor and Hampton serving as the cogs and stopping three Bear swings in total.<\/p>\n When Hampton passed up a ball high to West on the outside, the freshman slammed it home for her 10th kill of the match to give the Tar Heels a 19-16 advantage.\u00a0<\/p>\n From there, two more blocks gave UNC a five-point lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n A booming overpass kill for Taylor had all fans on their feet at 24-19. Markham served into the net, but Behrendt went back to Taylor on her career night, as her kill led to a victorious set four, 25-20, taking the match, 3-1.\u00a0<\/p>\n North Carolina will look to remain undefeated in Carmichael Arena as the Tar Heels face off against No. 15 Stanford on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. The match will be televised on ESPN.
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