No. 20 Carolina volleyball ran into a buzzsaw on Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh, dropping a 3-0 decision to No. 2 Pitt by scores of 25-20, 25-14 and 25-19.
The Tar Heels were competitive early and spent much of the opening set trading punches with the Panthers. Pitt finally created separation with a 4-0 burst to go up 13-10, which sent UNC to a timeout.
Carolina settled things down from there and was still within three at the media break, trailing 15-12. A quick 4-2 UNC push trimmed the gap to 17-16, but Pitt answered with a 3-0 run to regain control and close out the set.
Safi Hampton paced the Tar Heels in the frame with six kills and two blocks, while Chelsea Thorpe added five kills.
The second set tilted Pitt’s way much earlier. Carolina fell behind 8-4, then briefly pulled within one at 8-7 before the Panthers strung together another 3-0 run that forced a timeout.
Pitt kept the pressure on, eventually stretching the margin to 17-9 and leaving UNC without much room to recover. Bridget Malone led Carolina with four kills in the set as Pitt rolled to a 25-14 win.
UNC tried to make a move in the third, using a 3-0 run to jump ahead 8-5 behind consecutive aces from Julia Bohlinger. Pitt responded with a 5-2 stretch to even the score at 10-10, then carried a 15-14 edge into the third media break. From there, the Panthers widened the gap to 21-17 and forced another UNC timeout before finishing off the match.
Bridget Malone finished with eight kills to lead Carolina on the day. Safi Hampton and Laynie Smith each had four blocks, and Meghan Clifford added four kills and three blocks.
UNC now turns to Duke for a two-match stretch over four days. The first meeting is set for Nov. 12 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, followed by a rematch at Carmichael Arena on Nov. 15 at 1 p.m. on ACC Network.
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