The women’s volleyball team had a rough afternoon against ACC rival North Carolina on Sunday, falling 3-0 in Chapel Hill.
The Canes dropped the first set 25-15, the second 25-21 and the third 25-16. The loss to the Tar Heels snapped a five-match winning streak for the Canes.
Despite trying to be aggressive from the start, Miami just made too many mistakes offensively to get the victory. The Canes had 30 more attacks than the Tar Heels but made 27 attack errors to 11 for North Carolina, which was the main difference in the match.
The Canes (12-6, 5-3) put themselves in a hole from the start and never led in the first set. Service and attack blunders held the team back, making points come easy for the Tar Heels.
Miami showed more fight in the second set, going neck and neck with North Carolina (9-8, 6-2). Freshman outside hitter Kolby Bird and sophomore outside hitter Olga Strantzali had some key kills, and senior defensive setter Kalysta White made digs that saved Miami early. The Canes took a 14-13 lead midway through the set, and tied it up again at 20, but could not keep the Tar Heels from getting the win.
The Canes failed again to lead at any point in the third and final set. The team continued to make offensive errors, and was unable to slow down the methodical play of North Carolina.
Miami struggled to stop the blocking of the Tar Heels, and had a hitting percentage of only .049. Bird led the Canes in kills with nine, White had the most digs with 12 and senior middle blocker Alexis Mourning had a team-high three blocks. Strantzali did a little of everything, adding eight kills, seven digs, two blocks and an ace.
The Canes will look to rebound from the loss when they face off against Boston College at 7 p.m. Friday at the Knight Sports Complex.