CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Michigan State volleyball program saw its season-opening unbeaten streak come to an end on Friday night, falling to North Carolina in three sets, 25-16, 25-19, 29-27, at Carmichael Arena. Head Coach Leah Johnson‘s Spartans fought valiantly to push the match to a fourth set, ultimately coming up short in a third set nail-biter.
“Gosh we fight, we fight hard,” Johnson said. “I can’t be disappointed with our ability to go extra points and play to the max. I liked our fight through the whole match. I think we learned that we are relying a little bit too much on sideline information versus self-led on-court information. Once we turned that switch on the game changed.”
Freshman Evie Doezema led the team on Friday night with 13 kills and added eight digs playing six rotations. Doezema had a crucial four kills at the end of the third set to keep Michigan State in the fight late. The Spartans trailed 24-23 and Doezema’s kills represented the final four points for the Spartans.
“Evie Doezema is starting to evolve for us,” Johnson said. “She is playing six rotations, passing at a high volume, taking a lot of swings and now scoring at a more efficient clip which is huge.”
Other Spartan team-leaders included graduate student Zoe Nunez with 20 assists and junior Nalani Iosia with 16 digs. Four different Spartans had two total blocks against the Tar Heels, with freshman Nil Okur stuffing the only solo block for MSU.
The Spartans were outhit .252 to .150 in the match, but hit better than North Carolina in the set three, .167 to .149. Tar Heel hitters Charley Niego and Kaya Merkler were the…
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