The Tar Heels, who sit in fourth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings, outsized the fifth place Hokies quite clearly.
Head coach Chris Riley reflected on Carolina's size and defense.
"That was the best defensive team we've played all year," Riley said. "They outsized us and frustrated us with their defense, but we've got to persist and do what we practice. We can't allow them to force us into errors."
Virginia Tech (9-6, 18-8 ACC) fell behind North Carolina 13-8 after a few barely missed blocks went off the fingertips. Middle blocker Felicia Willoughby, who killed 5-of-7 attempts in the first set, kept the Hokies alive. Willoughby leads the ACC with a .391 hitting percentage.
Tech kept the margin close as outside hitter Taylor Parrish made a smart flick of the ball over the net to bring the score to 15-16. With strong kills by Willoughby and outside hitter Amy Wengrenovich, the Hokies got as close as they would get at the end of the set, bringing the score to 19-21, before losing the next four points to the Tar Heels.
Outside hitter Justine Record had 12 total attempts, but only 1 fell down for a point as North Carolina seemed to be in the right place at the right time on every attempt.
Middle blocker Kirsty Blue felt that players got frustrated.
"We've got to keep pushing and pushing," Blue said, agreeing with Riley. "It's frustrating when plays that you feel you should make aren't successful, but we've got to have confidence."
Tech looked strong in the second set. Record turned her own luck around, killing 4-of-11 during the set, keeping the Tar Heels on their heels and scoring points that built leads late in the set. But, the Hokies surrendered the lead later in the set and could not catch up.
After the break, North Carolina built a 6-3 lead. Tech kept the score close and took the lead 14-11 after five straight points, but the Heels had a few runs of their own and took control of the set. Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland of Carolina's kill sealed the deal.
Despite Tech's strong play in the middle of each set, they failed to score the last few points necessary for the win.
"Getting those last few points is all about confidence," said Blue, who finished the match with one solo block and three block assists.
Tech committed 24 errors, many of which came late in the match.
"They out-hit us," Riley said. "Carolina played great defense and dug out a lot of our good attacks. Our players just tried to do too much sometimes and we needed to stay persistent."
The Hokies will be in action Friday night as they host the last place Boston College Eagles at 3 p.m.
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