Tar Heels Face UVa. for ACC Title

The game will be a matchup between the two undefeated teams atop the ACC standings. UNC (5-1, 2-0 ACC) is ranked No. 3 in this week's Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association poll. The Cavaliers (5-2, 1-0) are ranked No. 6.

A win Saturday would give the Tar Heels the 2002 ACC regular-season title, their second conference title in three years.

Virginia will still have one remaining conference game April 6 at Duke.

The Cavaliers are led by the ACC's leading scorer, Lauren Aumiller, who has 40 points on 24 goals and a conference-leading 16 assists.

UNC is led by seniors Lindsay Stone, who is second in the ACC with 3.50 goals per game, and Kellie Thompson, whose 3.17 goals per game rank her fifth in the conference.

UNC and Virginia face off at noon.

Swimmers Compete at NCAAs

AUSTIN, Texas -- The North Carolina women's swimming team placed four entries into the consolation finals Thursday at the NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Texas.

The top qualifier for the Tar Heels was junior Christy Watkins in the 50-yard freestyle, placing 10th with a time of 22.75 seconds. UNC senior Katie Hathaway qualified 12th in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1 minute, 59.91 seconds.

Both Tar Heel relay teams qualified for the consolation finals.

The 200 freestyle relay team qualified 14th with a time of 1:32.14. The relay team consists of sophomore Jessi Perruquet (23.14), Hathaway (23.02), senior Stefanie Rulis (22.63) and Watkins (22.35).

The Tar Heels just snuck into the consolation final in the 400 medley relay, taking 16th place in the preliminaries with a time of 3:44.17.

UNC 3rd in Sears Cup Standings

CLEVELAND -- North Carolina's athletic program stands in third place in the 2001-02 Sears Directors' Cup standings after the first set of winter sports standings were released Thursday by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

The Tar Heels, which were second at the conclusion of the fall season, dropped one spot in the latest standings, which added the sports of skiing, rifle and men's and women's indoor track and field.

UNC now has 454.5 points and ranks behind defending champion Stanford and Colorado, which have 645.5 and 481 points, respectively.

In the latest standings, UNC added 78 points for finishing fifth in women's indoor track and 71.5 points for finishing 12th in men's indoor track.

The second set of winter sports rankings will be released by NACDA on April 4.

Wrestlers in New York for Nationals

Five members of the North Carolina wrestling team will represent the Tar Heels at the 2002 NCAA Wrestling Tournament this weekend in Albany, N.Y.

Seniors Matt Kenny and Brad Byers will by joined by three freshmen: Chris Rodrigues, Evan Sola and Mark Canty.

Kenny, making his fourth trip to nationals in the heavyweight division, won his fourth straight ACC title this year and finished the regular season with a 21-7 record. He will face Matt Feast from Pennsylvania in the first round.

Byers finished his senior campaign 29-12 at 141 pounds. Appearing for the third time at the NCAA tournament, Byers will face Mike Maney of Lock Haven in his first match.

Sola, Rodrigues and Canty all took second place at the ACC Tournament, held March 9 at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh.

Sola wrestled at 133 pounds this season and compiled a 25-9 overall record. The freshman won 15 of his final 16 matches in dual-meet season and will wrestle Michigan's Foley Dowd in his first round matchup.

Rodrigues had a 28-11 overall mark. He will face Shawn Bunch of Edinboro in an NCAA tournament first-round match.

Canty, 16-12 on the season, will see Otto Olson of Michigan in the first round.