Sept. 10, 2011
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Sun Devil volleyball team fell to North Carolina in straight sets 25-15, 25-10, 25-20 on Saturday to close out the non-conference schedule with a 4-5 record.
Danica Mendivil paced the ASU offense with 12 kills, but North Carolina's .452 attack percentage shut down all Sun Devil efforts. The Tar Heels improve to 6-2 on the year with the win.
In the first set, ASU hung in the ballgame narrowly behind at the 4-3 mark but a 9-3 run by UNC set the lead out of reach at 13-6. Alexis Pinson threw down kills at 18-10 and 21-11 but the Tar Heel offense moved quickly to close the frame 25-15.
ASU suffered a 25-10 defeat in set two with only eight kills recorded to UNC's 16. North Carolina led for the entire set, jumping to 12-4 via a seven-point rally and another run (6-0) at 22-8 en route to claiming the set.
The Sun Devils played its strongest set in the third and final stanza, chalking up 12 kills on the board but would eventually go down 25-20. During the frame, ASU tied it six times, with the lead changing twice.
Arizona State will begin its inaugural Pac-12 conference action at Oregon State on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. followed by a match at Oregon on Sept. 18 at 1 p.m.