No. 23 North Carolina came back home Friday night and made the most of it, knocking off California 3-1 at Carmichael Arena to move to 13-4 overall and 8-1 in ACC play.
The Tar Heels had been on the road for two weeks, and the return to Chapel Hill brought out a string of big individual nights. Junior opposite hitter Laynie Smith tied her career high with 14 kills and did it on a sharp .480 hitting percentage.
Junior middle blocker Jackie Taylor matched her career best with 13 kills and added eight blocks. Freshman outside hitter Addison West posted 12 kills, setting a new career high.
Junior libero Julia Bohlinger finished with 18 digs and 10 assists, while sophomore setter Sienna Cozza added 12 digs and set 25 winners.
"We were tired of playing out of our suitcases…We all love playing in this place in front of our fans."
Smith said the production felt like a reward for the work North Carolina has been putting in.
"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."
North Carolina had to work through some early trouble before settling in. Smith opened the scoring for the Tar Heels with a pair of kills, helping UNC get even at 4-4 in the first set. The Heels then moved in front for the first time at 9-8 and later stretched the lead to 15-11 on a cross-court finish from West.
California kept pressing, but Cozza’s one-handed save that led to another West swing helped force a Golden Bears timeout. Even after Cal trimmed the margin, Taylor closed the set with a tip and a hard swing through the middle, and UNC took the opening frame 25-21 while hitting .361.
The second set turned into the tightest battle of the night. Smith stayed perfect early, and after California used a 5-1 burst to put UNC in a timeout, Safi Hampton answered with her third kill of the match. West pulled Carolina within one at 12-13 with a kill set up by senior setter Zoe Behrendt, and Chelsea Thorpe then reached the 1,000-kill mark on a quick-tempo connection from Behrendt.
"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 - that's a lot of balls put to the floor. I'm glad she's done a lot of that wearing Carolina blue."
Hampton kept UNC close with a back-row blast that made it 20-19, and the Tar Heels nearly grabbed the set late when a block from Hampton and Taylor put them at set point. California challenged the call successfully, though, and the Bears eventually edged it 27-25 to level the match.
North Carolina took control in the third. Freshman defensive specialist Carly Markham fired up the point with a shout of "hit that!"
before graduate middle blocker Lauren Schutter finished at the center for an 8-6 lead. The Bears answered, but UNC put together a 5-1 run and then separated with four straight points capped by a huge Taylor block on Cari Bohm for a 17-9 lead.
Taylor finished the set with another emphatic rejection, this time with West involved, and the Tar Heels rolled 25-17.
The fourth set opened with California on the front foot, as the Bears used a 6-1 run to take an 8-4 lead. North Carolina answered with a 9-1 surge of its own, fueled by strong net play.
Thorpe, Taylor and Hampton teamed up to stop three California swings during that stretch, and West’s 10th kill of the match pushed UNC ahead 19-16. Two more blocks opened the gap further, and Taylor capped her night with a booming overpass kill that brought the crowd to its feet at 24-19.
After Markham served long, Behrendt went back to Taylor, whose final kill sealed the 25-20 set and the 3-1 win.
North Carolina will try to stay unbeaten at Carmichael Arena on Sunday, when the Tar Heels host No. 15 Stanford at 8:30 p.m. The match will be televised on ESPN.
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