Carolina posted a 20-12 overall record in 1996. The Tar Heels' 9-7 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference playe was good for a tie for fourth place in the league with Clemson. The Heels advanced to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament for the second consecutive season. The 20 wins were the most for Carolina in a single season since 1989 when the Tar Heels went 21-9 and reached the NCAA Tournament. Carolina's 20 wins were the most for head coach Joe Sagula in his seven years at UNC.

The Tar Heels picked up their bigges win in the history of the Carolina Volleyball program when they upset defending national champion and fourth-ranked Nebraska in five games on Sept. 13, 1995. The Cornhuskers won the first two games of the match and seemed on their way to an easy win before junior Lori Carlson (a career-high 28 kills), sophomores Maya Starks (22 kills) and Erin Berg (67 assists) led the comeback.

Tar Heels outside hitter Tori Seibert was perhaps Carolina's most consistent player and was among the best players in the ACC as a freshman. Seibert was named second-team All-ACC, a member of the ACC All-freshman team and earned AVCA All-District III honors. Seibert led UNC and ranked second in the conference in hitting percentage at a .352 clip. The .352 was second best every at Carolina for a season. Her .352 hitting percentage led the ACC and her 3.83 kills per game was ninth in the conference. Tori Seibert led Carolina in hitting percentage (.352), kills (400), blocks (109) and was third in digs with 296.

Sophomore setter Erin Berg was UNC's leader on the floor, pacing the Heels with 1,069 assists (an average of 11.495 per game). Berg ranked seventh in the ACC in assists per game. Berg was also an effective blocker, contributing 48 assisted blocks (4th on the team). Erin Berg was named to the All-ACC Tournament team after totaling 111 assists in two matches.

Junior outside hitter Lori Carlson had a career high 28 kills in the five-game upset of defending national champion Nebraska, earning ACC co-Player-of-the-Week honors for Sept. 17. Outside hitter Maya Starks blossomed as a sophomor finishing second on the team in kills (377) and digs (314). Starks topped the 20-kill mark six times, including a career high 24 in the ACC Tournament seminfinals versus Maryland. Starks earned ACC Player-of-the-Week honors for Sept. 24 after registering 20 kills at Duke and at Wake Forest.

Freshman middle hitter Shannon Smith set a new UNC record when she registed seven solo blocks at Florida State on Oct. 25. Smith led the Tar Heels with 26 Solo blocks on the season and rnake eighth in the ACC with 1.03 blocks per game.

Ashley Powers earned the UNC Athletic Director's Scholar Athlete Award for Volleyball. Erin Berg, Allison Hobson, Emily Howard and Ashley Powers all were named to the 1996-97 ACC honor roll. Allison Hobson, Emily Howard and Ashley Powers all earned Dean's List accolades during the 1996-97 academic year.