Volleyball Sweeps Duke Behind Dominant Performances From Hampton & Pearce

Wednesday, October 1

Chapel Hill, N.C.

7 PM

North Carolina

Duke

Photo by: AINSLEY E. FAUTH

Volleyball Sweeps Duke Behind Dominant Performances From Hampton & Pearce

October 1, 2025 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - No. 25 Carolina volleyball earned its fourth straight win against Duke (25-20, 25-15, 25-16) in a sweep on Wednesday night, marking the third sweep in a row.

Head coach Mike Schall continues to win against in-state competition, as the win pushes his overall record to 11-4 and his season record to 5-0.

Today's offensive output was the sixth match of the season in which the Tar Heels hit over .300. As Hailey Pearce and Safi Hampton led the team as the duo with 24 combined kills and a combined hitting percentage of .468.

The Tar Heels dominated statistically, more than doubling their blocks 11.5-5 and doubling the Blue Devils' service aces 6-3.

Like clockwork, Hampton propelled Carolina's offense in the first set. Hampton delivered the opening and closing kill for the Tar Heels in the back-and-forth opening set. There were six lead changes as the offense hit another gear, as the team pushed the lead to five, winning 25-20, behind seven Kills from Hampton and Pearce.

"That's something that I've been trying to work on," Pearce said over her fast start. "We've had slow starts in the beginning — including myself — so just trying to be the first team to jump out from the start. I think that's what we've been really focusing on. It was just cool and a great environment to be in — I had a really fun time."

The second set, led by performances by Jackie Taylor and Pearce, started with another couple of back-and-forth rallies. The Tar Heels never gave up their lead, and went up 2-0 with a 25-15 win.

For the second straight set, Carolina won by at least nine points, ending the match on a 10-3 run. Carolina opened with a blistering 4-0 start and the Blue Devils responded, every time that they brought the score within one, Carolina never let them tie or take the lead back, winning 25-16.

It was a truly dominant final two frames from the Tar Heels; there was only one tie and zero lead changes in sets two and three. They left no doubt on the court.

Carolina looks to secure the season sweep against the Blue Devils for the second straight season on Saturday, Oct. 4 as they head to Durham for the 2:00 p.m. matchup on ACCNX.