Nov. 20, 2004

Charlottesville, Va. - North Carolina (18-14, 9-7 ACC) downed Clemson (20-14, 7-9 ACC) by scores of 30-19, 31-29, 30-23 in the semifinals of the 2004 ACC Volleyball Championship Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium on the grounds of the University of Virginia.

After falling behind 8-3 early in the first game, the Tar Heels responded to a time out with a 7-3 run, cutting Clemson's lead to one. The Heels tied the game at 11-11, before taking a 12-11 lead on a Dani Nyenhuis kill. North Carolina stretched its lead to as much as 12, before posting a 30-19 victory. The Heels hit .378 in the game and were led by Nyenhuis, who notched six kills.

In a back-and-forth second game, that saw the score tied 14 times and the lead shift on six occasions, the Tar Heels recorded a 31-29 win. Using momentum from the second game, North Carolina jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the third game. The two teams exchanged points, until tied at 14-14, Nyenhuis stepped to the line and served up her second ace of the match and put the Tar Heels in the lead for good. North Carolina went on to register the 30-23 win.

The Tar Heels were led by Nyenhuis, who registered 16 kills and eight digs and Amy Beaver, who notched ten kills and hit .600 in the match. Clemson was paced by Lori Ashton, who recorded 14 kills and Leslie Finn, who notched 12 kills and 14 digs. Finn's 70 kills in Clemson's three tournament matches broke the ACC tournament kills record set by North Carolina's Jill Berkebile in 1985.

North Carolina advances to the championship match on Sunday, November 21 at 1:00 p.m., where it will face the winner of today's second semifinal match between Duke and Maryland.