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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2017 15:46:13 GMT -5
The 2017 season was expected to be one of promise after a young Heels team made a run at the Sweet 16 in 2016. The aging Heels were expected to do big things until injury decimated the team. According to the Tar Heel Coaches, they have not had their full roster practice since that last game in the 2016 regional. After not even making the tourney and finishing way below average in the ACC, the Heels will look to get a healthy squad back to the top of the ACC and back in the national conversation.
2018 Roster:
Seniors:
Kendra Koetter Setter Casey Jacobs DS/Libero Madison Laufenburg OH/RS
Keimaya Hunter * MH Retiring from Vball, not using last year of eligibility.
Taylor Leath* OH Transferring for RS graduate year.
Juniors:
Taylor Borup OH Transfer to Oregon Sydney Fields* MH/RS Transfer to TAMU Mia Fradenburg Libero Greer Moseman DS Skylar Wine OH
Sophomores:
Mariah Evans* Setter Medical Retirement, Volunteer Coach
Holly Carlton* Setter/RS Transfer to UF
Julia Scoles* OH Transfer for Beach, Hawaii
Sehrena Hull DS Quit Team Katharine Esterly* MH Maddie Grace Hough DS/Libero Hunter Atherton* Setter Aristea Tontai MH
Freshmen and things to look for: Raleigh Clark* MH Redshirted; BIP USA European Tour Player, winning Gold. Skilled Blocker Destiny Cox OH/RS Powerful outside hitter. Has a lot of range. Still working on back row. Lauren Harrison OH Explosive OH with a lot of power. She is a "go to". Think Taylor Treacy dent in the floor ability. Status unknown due to possible injury. Annabelle Archer S Smart and Savy Distributor. Defensive Setter as well. Ava Bell MH/OH Very Versatile. She can play 6 rotations as a MH and can attack and pass from the back row. Hadden Lagarde OH Has a lot of good all around skills. She may be a surprise pin hitter. Very good court awareness. Erin Boone S/RS Good defensive setter. She has versatility in being able to set and play OPP. Good blocker.
Key Returnees: Katharine Esterly (MH, Led ACC in Blocks in 2017, Broke UNC Freshmen block assist record, 10th in Nation)
Key Newcomers: Destiny Cox (OH, #19 recruit), Lauren Harrison (OH, #22 Recruit), Ava Bell (MH/OH, #51 Ace), Hunter Atherton (2016 prep Volleyball Recruit #41, #8 Setter), Aristea Tontai (MH transfer from Coastal)
Position Breakdown: (Some players play multiple positions)
Setters (3): Kendra Koetter (SR), Anabelle Archer (Fr), Hunter Atherton (R.So)
Defensive Specialists (4) : Casey Jacobs (Sr), Mia Fradenburg (Jr), Greer Moseman (Jr), Maddie Grace Hough (So),
Middles (4): Katharine Esterly (RSo), Raleigh Clark (RFr), Ava Bell (Fr), Aristea Tontai
Outside Hitters (7) Madison Laufenburg (Sr), Destiny Cox (Fr), Lauren Harrison (Fr), Hadden Lagarde (Fr), Ava Bell (Fr), Aristea Tontai (SO, OPP), Skylar Wine (JR)
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Post by bigfan on Dec 4, 2017 15:50:14 GMT -5
North Carolina had a very disappointing season................I thought they would make regionals 2017.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2017 15:56:00 GMT -5
Agree. Also I have heard that a libero may be added to the roster. Coaches looking for a transfer.
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Post by jrobinson1906 on Dec 4, 2017 16:03:45 GMT -5
They picked up key players for 2018. They will bounce back in a year or two.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2017 22:18:29 GMT -5
The new returns will fit nicely with the current players and those coming back from injury. Offense will be potent with improved defense.
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Post by Wolfgang on Dec 4, 2017 22:19:39 GMT -5
"Can the Heels rebound?" sounds almost like a question about the Tar Heel basketball team.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2017 9:19:27 GMT -5
"Can the Heels rebound?" sounds almost like a question about the Tar Heel basketball team. Just keeping with school traditions. And surprisingly they are still rebounding quite well this year without their traditional big men.
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Post by BuckysHeat on Dec 5, 2017 10:20:13 GMT -5
Losing Fricano to graduation is not as big a deal as losing Nordhorn, nobody easily replaces a 6'7" middle with solid skills. Who do you see replacing her this coming season? UNC will still have a very tall front row with at least 6 girls over 6'3". They still have the pieces provided everybody recovers from ALL the injuries, I am most worried about whichever player it was that had several concussions (sorry, can't remember if was Scoles or Leath).
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2017 11:40:51 GMT -5
Losing Fricano to graduation is not as big a deal as losing Nordhorn, nobody easily replaces a 6'7" middle with solid skills. Who do you see replacing her this coming season? UNC will still have a very tall front row with at least 6 girls over 6'3". They still have the pieces provided everybody recovers from ALL the injuries, I am most worried about whichever player it was that had several concussions (sorry, can't remember if was Scoles or Leath). You are correct...Fricano thrived in the middle her Junior season but was moved to right this year due to injuries and she never got into a rhythm. Nordorn was good offensively, but was a poor blocker. Too many seams. Our middle will be fine. Esterly will provide very solid defense as she was tops in the ACC and 10th in the nation and was only a Redshirt Freshmen. Fields, if healthy, will return to the middle and is a shut down blocker. If Fields is not healthy, Clark who was on USA Training teams can step up. She has the ability according to coached to be one of the best middles in UNC history. Scoles is the player that had the concussion issues along with Evans. Scoles, 2016 ACC FOY, ACC first team, and AVCA East Region and AA Honorable mention. Scoles started attending games and practices the last 2 weeks of the season, Evans was spotted the last week. Sagula says Scoles has progressed nicely and will be ready according to Physicians for the Spring. With Scoles back she will get to relieve Leath from carrying the team and she was stellar on serve receive. many claim Scoles and Leath to be one of the top OH duos in the country. Evans is a steady setter who really controls the court with her presence, this is needed with a younger team as we saw this year. Biggest question for UNC is who will play right and libero? My guess is that Borup will move back to the right and play there for three rotations while Carlton will set back row and hit in the front of the other three. I see either Harrison or Cox being redshirted to learn under Leath and the other will be used for OH depth. It is also possible that Sagula tries again to run a 5-1 and Carlton will set but the left side may be Leath and Borup and Scoles potentially on the right since she has the ability to attack from the back. The other question is libero. Jacobs was too sketchy when Fradenburg went out. She was very inconsistent. Fradenburg was good but not very vocal. The end of the season Hough took over and did fabulous. Or I have heard they are trying to get a transfer libero from a good program. Those questions will be answered the next few months into the spring.
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Post by loken on Dec 7, 2017 0:41:09 GMT -5
As a UNC alum, who coached the UNC men's volleyball club from 85-87, and assisted then women's coach Peggy Bradley Doppes one season, my question to observers is this: Has the UNC program under Joe Sagula, achieved the level one would expect of one of the premier sports universities in the country?
I have been away from the game for 20 years so now as I come back to coaching, I am curious where my alma mater is in the national scheme of things.
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Post by Vacation on Dec 7, 2017 0:49:43 GMT -5
"Can the Heels rebound?" sounds almost like a question about the Tar Heel basketball team. Ha! My first thought was "well, can they box out?"
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Post by rainbowbadger on Dec 7, 2017 9:31:40 GMT -5
"Can the Heels rebound?" sounds almost like a question about the Tar Heel basketball team. The basketball team will do just fine with their fake classes.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2017 9:37:06 GMT -5
As a UNC alum, who coached the UNC men's volleyball club from 85-87, and assisted then women's coach Peggy Bradley Doppes one season, my question to observers is this: Has the UNC program under Joe Sagula, achieved the level one would expect of one of the premier sports universities in the country? I have been away from the game for 20 years so now as I come back to coaching, I am curious where my alma mater is in the national scheme of things. In some ways yes, and other ways no. Yes, they have been a program that has slowly added more star studded recruits. For instance, in 2012, he had a nationally ranked top 10 class. Then in 2016 he had a top 3 nationally recruited class. Often that speaks to the direction a program is heading. I think that when you look at his long tenure, many are wondering why he has not had greater success on the national level even though the Heels have always been good in the ACC. I think the answer to that is many of the strong recruits from the south have traveled to B1G schools or PAC 12 schools to get an instant start at stardom. However, as the club scene has exploded in NC and parts of the south in the past 5 years, homegrown talent is staying closer to home and UNC is attracting more high power and highly skilled recruits. This is evident in the program being in the Elite 8 and Sweet 16 in 2014 and 2016. One would think that this year would be a step beyond those finishes if injury would not have hit. I would not be surprised is the Heels made the final four at least once in the next 4 years with the current players and the very good classes coming in in 2018 and again in 2020. However, even though the Heels have been ranked as high as #6 in the country to past few years, there have not been any championships or appearances yet to show it, yet.
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Post by trainermch on Dec 7, 2017 10:24:22 GMT -5
As a UNC alum, who coached the UNC men's volleyball club from 85-87, and assisted then women's coach Peggy Bradley Doppes one season, my question to observers is this: Has the UNC program under Joe Sagula, achieved the level one would expect of one of the premier sports universities in the country? I have been away from the game for 20 years so now as I come back to coaching, I am curious where my alma mater is in the national scheme of things. ...to get an instant start at stardom. NOW it really does sound like you're talking about basketball. Couldn't possibly be for and instant start with a great program which employs a successful coach.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2017 10:32:11 GMT -5
...to get an instant start at stardom. NOW it really does sound like you're talking about basketball. Couldn't possibly be for and instant start with a great program which employs a successful coach. I guess what I am inferring is that most star players assume, in volleyball, that the B1G and Pac12 have been the place to be because they do have established programs with national success. For some players, they may see it as a risk to join a program such as UNC from the ACC who has not been as dominant on the national stage but is slowly emerging. I think Sagula has done a good job of taking good recruits when they come in and making them great and taking the great ones a step farther. I think that the UNC volleyball program is in good hands with Sagula and when Sagula moves on it will probably be moved into the great hands of Eve Rackham. She has been a catalyst as a recruiter for sure.
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