CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina, the 11th seed, topped Winthrop 3-0 (30-24, 30-20, 30-18) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Carmichael Auditorium Thursday night.
"I want to congratulate Carolina, they've had a tremendous year," Winthrop head coach Joel McCarthy said. "They showed their power when necessary. I thought that we gave them a good match at times tonight, but I think in the end, they are just a very strong team at the net. They were able to collapse our outside attack, which is our strength."
Junior Logan Pierce led the Eagles with 13 kills, while Mary Hock added eight and Lindsey Remmers had five kills in the loss.
Senior middle hitter Holly Strauss led the Tar Heels with 12 kills and six total blocks while hitting .321. Setter Eve Rackham had 33 assists while outside hitter Laura Greene and outside hitter Molly Pyles each recorded 19 digs.
The first game featured a strong defense on both sides, with the Tar Heels hitting .077 and the Eagles just .060. Pyles had a game-high 10 digs for UNC. After that match was tied 1-1, the Tar Heels went on an 11-2 run to take a 12-3 lead, but Winthrop would battle back with a run of its own to tie the score at 18-18 and 19-19. A Greene kill put UNC up for good 20-19 before taking the 1-0 lead 30-24.
In the second game, North Carolina held Winthrop to a .056 hitting percentage and broke out offensively hitting .375 with 18 kills and just three errors. Strauss led the way for UNC, hitting .500 with five kills and four block assists. After the game was tied 2-2, the Tar Heels broke out on a 10-3 run to build a 12-5 lead. The Tar heels continued to build a lead, holding an 11-point edge at 20-9. Winthrop closed the margin down the stretch, but North Carolina put the match away with a Strauss kill at 30-20.
North Carolina's defense set the tone in the final game, winning 30-18 while holding Winthrop to a -.025 hitting percentage. Greene led the Tar Heels with seven digs in the game.
Winthrop finished the season with a Division I school-record 28 win season, falling to 28-11 with the loss. UNC improved to 31-3 with the win.
