Carrieri, Bolowich Receive League's Top Honors

The North Carolina men's soccer team picked up a slew of awards from the ACC on Wednesday.

Junior forward Chris Carrieri earned the top honor when he was named ACC Player of the Year. Carrieri leads the conference and the nation in scoring average (3.16 points per game) and goals per game (1.26).

Carrieri spearheaded an All-ACC first team that also featured UNC defender Danny Jackson.

Midfielder Michael Bucy, forward Caleb Norkus and midfielder Eddie Robinson made the All-ACC second team for the Tar Heels.

UNC coach Elmar Bolowich was named ACC Coach of the Year for his efforts this season. Bolowich has the Tar Heels riding a school-record 11-match winning streak.

The Tar Heels (17-2) return to action Friday at 8:00 p.m. in the ACC tournament in Winston-Salem. UNC is the top seed and received a bye to Friday's semifinals. The Tar Heels will play the winner of Thursday's game between No. 4 seed Clemson and No. 5 Wake Forest.

Tar Heels to Play Final Exhibition

The North Carolina women's basketball team plays its final exhibition game of the preseason tonight against the Basketball Travelers at 7 p.m. at Carmichael Auditorium. There is no charge for admission.

Peppers Climbs Sack Charts

UNC sophomore defensive end Julius Peppers leads the ACC and is second in the nation with 1.44 sacks per game.

Peppers has 13 sacks in nine games, leaving him three shy of tying Lawrence Taylor's school record of 16 set in 1980. Peppers, who entered last week ranked fifth in the NCAA in sacks, had three in UNC's 20-17 win at Pittsburgh. He recorded four sacks the previous week in a loss at Virginia.

He is second in the nation in sacks behind Syracuse's Dwight Feeney (1.63 per game). In the ACC rankings, Peppers has one more sack than FSU's Jamal Reynolds and two more than Georgia Tech's Greg Gathers.

Peppers has 20 tackles for loss and is three shy of Ebenezer Ekuban's school record of 23 set in 1998.

Cross Country Runs to Regionals

The UNC men's and women's cross country teams head to Furman on Saturday to compete in the NCAA Southeast Region Championships.

The women's 6,000 meter race starts at 10 a.m., and the men compete in the 10,000 meters at 11 a.m.

The 23rd-ranked UNC women's team will compete against 38 schools, including 14th-ranked and ACC champion N.C. State, for the title. They are coming off a second-place finish at the ACC Championships. The Tar Heel men will match up against 37 schools.

The top two men's and women's teams will advance to the NCAA Championships, to be held Nov. 20, in Ames, Iowa. The top four individuals in the men's and women's races - as long as they place in the top 25 overall - will also earn a place in the field at nationals.