The icing on the cake was the NCAA tournament first round, 3-1 upset of South Carolina in Carmichael Auditorium, and the programs first-ever second round game at home.
A 24-9 regular season record was the team's fourth consecutive 20-win season, and the team has at least 12 ACC wins in each of those season.
For seniors Melissa Higgins and Krista Buchholz, the post-season was more than the ACC-Tournament. The team earned a sport in the NCAA bracket each of their four years.
Not only were Melissa and Krista the only players in school history to go to four tournaments, they were part of the teams which advanced to the second round for the first, second, and third times ever.
Last year, the duo helped the Tar Heels to the second round. Higher seed South Carolina came to Chapel Hill and the Tar Heels sent them packing with a stunning 3-1 victory. Round 2 saw UNC fall 0-3 to Pepperdine, which finished the season ranked 8th nationally.
After finishing the regulare season second in the ACC to Duke by one game, the Tar Heels went to worki in the conference tourney winning three matches in three days to win their third title in the last three years.
In the first round, Clemson took the Tar Heels to five games, with UNC earning a 15-11 win in game 5. In the semifinals UNC topped Maryland 3-0 before topping host Florida State 3-1 in the finals.
With the victory the Tar Heels now have two more ACC Championships (9) then any other school in the conference. Duke trails with seven titles.
The team opened the season just over .500 at 4-3, but from there they took off on a 13-game winning streak that spanned more then one month. The team wrapped up the regular season with a 20-8 record before going 4-1 in post season play. The team's 24 wins were 30th in the nation. The Tar Heels had one top 25 ranking the week of Oct. 15, and finished the year at No. 26.
Head Coach Joe Sagula won his second AVCA East Region Coach of the Year Award in the last four years (the other was 1998). He upped his career coaching record to 442-281 (.613) and 239-158 (.603) since coming to Chapel Hill in 1990. Sagula is the active leader among coaches in the conference with 99 wins against ACC opponents in the regular season.
Laura Greene and Nicole Reis set pac by earning spots both on the AVCA All-East Region Team and also the First Team All-ACC. Krista Buchholz joined Reis on the ACC-All Tournament Team, while junior Malaika Underwood was named the MVP of the ACC tournament. Molly Pyles nabbed a spot on the ACC All-Freshmen Team as well.
Junior Laura Greene etched her name further into the UNC record books earning her 1,000 kill and 1,000 dig last season. The milestone kill cam on Nov 2 in a loss to Georgia Tech, and the dig came two weeks later in a win over Clemson during the ACC Tournament.
Carmichael was packed Oct. 12, as 9,500 fans piled into the legendary building to watch the Tar Heels beat Kansas, 3-1. It was the second largest crowd to warch a volleyball match in the nation and it set the single game attendenc record at UNC.
As a team, the Tar Heels topped the conference in Digs (2,145 or 17.58 per game). Individually, Holly Strauss took home th honor of being the conference's top blocker with 128 (1.39 per game).
Carolina can attribute much of its success last season to the home court advantage it holds. The team went 11-2 overall and 7-1 in the ACC. The team won 33 games while droppign only 12 all season long in Carmichael. The team has gone 54-5 over the last four years at home - a winning percentage of .915.