CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The second-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team couldn't overcome a strong challenge from No. 11 North Carolina, losing its first match of the season. The Badgers fell to the Tar Heels 25-23, 25-27, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11 in their first match of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

"It was a battle," head coach Kelly Sheffield said. "It was two really good teams going at it. It wasn't always the prettiest volleyball but I thought both teams were planning pretty hard. We'll learn from it."

The Tar Heels used a strong net game to defeat Wisconsin. The nation's top blocking team outblocked the Badgers 17-13 and outhit them .206 (71 kills – 29 errors – 204 attempts) to .139 (59-32-194).

UNC had three players record double-figure kills, including a match-high 23 from redshirt sophomore Taylor Leath.

Wisconsin also had three players in double digits, led by sophomore Tionna Williams with 15 kills and .405 hitting percentage (15-2-32). Senior Haleigh Nelson added 14 kills and sophomore Molly Haggerty put away 12 kills.

The Badgers played without their second-leading hitter as junior Lauryn Gillis missed the match with a sprained ankle. Junior Kelli Bates moved to outside hitter for the first time this season after playing libero for the first five matches. Freshman M.E. Dodge started at libero in place of Bates.

With the change in lineup, UW's outside hitters struggled during the match.

"When we were out of system, we didn't attack the way that we need to," Sheffield added. "Certainly North Carolina had something to do with that. That's a really big block and it probably got into our heads a little bit."

Sheffield also said the Badgers struggled with their passing.

"Can we control the digs so that's we're in system?" said Sheffield. "Not just so that we can go to the middle, but so that their middles can't release and go outside. There were a lot of balls that I thought were controllable that you put it up there on the target and stress out their middles a little more than we needed to."
Wisconsin outdug North Carolina 87-82 with five players in double-figure saves. Bates led the Badgers with 20 digs while Lauren Carlini added 16 digs. Haggerty recorded her second double-double, adding 15 digs, while Dodge had a career-high 14 saves. Amber MacDonald chipped in 12 saves.

"I thought Amber did a really nice job for us tonight," Sheffield said. "She had some really nice digs, got on some serving runs for us."

Carlini picked up her 60^th career double-double with 51 assists and 16 digs. She needs one more double-double to tie the UW career record for double-doubles. The current mark is 61 double-doubles set by Laura Abbinante from 1993-96.

Nelson and Bates shared match-high honors with seven blocks, a career high for Bates. Williams added six blocks.

Wisconsin led by six points twice in the first set, including at 18-12, before UNC went on a 6-0 run to tie the score at 18. The set was tied three more times, including at 22-all, before two straight Tar Heel blocks gave the home team set point at 24-23. A North Carolina service error brought stopped the first set point before a Tar Heel kill gave them the first set.

The Badgers evened the match with a win in the second set after going to extra points. UW served for set point at 24-23 but UNC held off three set points before two straight kills by Williams evened the match.

UW pulled away in the middle of the third set, taking an 18-15 lead behind the serve of Bates. The Tar Heels would cut the lead to one three times, including at 22-21, before Williams again went to work. A kill and a block with Bates gave Wisconsin set point at 24-21. UNC held off two set points before a serve went wide for North Carolina and put UW up 2-1.

The Badgers couldn't stop Leath in the fourth set as she had nine kills and helped UNC take a 21-13 lead. Wisconsin cut the lead to 23-18 behind two kills from Haggerty but a kill by Julia Scoles made it set point at 24-19. UW held off two set points before a Leath kill tied the match at two sets apiece.

Wisconsin fell behind 3-0 in the fifth set but battled back to tie the period at six. A kill by Carlini knotted the score at eight before UNC went on a 6-3 run to serve for match point at 14-10. A kill by Nelson held off one set point but another Leath kill completed the upset.

UW wraps up the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Saturday against Louisville, a 3-0 loser to No. 6 Minnesota today, at 3 p.m.

"We have a short turnaround here," explained Sheffield. "Can we go and get ourselves ready for a team that likes to scrap? We'll have to ready for another fight and battle tomorrow."