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The Daily Tar Heel

UNC hopes 3rd time is a charm against FSU

After defeating the North Carolina volleyball team twice during the regular season, Florida State might overlook its first round ACC Tournament match against the Tar Heels.

But UNC hopes those two losses do not foreshadow an early exit from the race for the conference title.

"It's our turn to beat them," said senior libero Caroline deRoeck. "It's really hard for a team to beat someone three times in a row, especially when we're that good. I think that, especially coming off two losses, we're fired up."

The Tar Heels enter Friday's match in Charlottesville, Va., seeded fifth in the conference after dropping the last three matches of the season to Virginia Tech, Miami, and the fourth-seeded Seminoles.

Before the consecutive defeats, UNC had sole possession of second place behind powerhouse Georgia Tech.

"It's disappointing that we couldn't finish strong," said UNC coach Joe Sagula. "Although, when you go into the tournament, it's a whole new season. It's not ideal, but it's where we are, and we have to accept that."

The previous outings against FSU could prove advantageous for the Tar Heels, said co-captain Molly Pyles, who was named First Team All-ACC on Wednesday.

"We're ready for them," she said. "We know a lot more about them, and we'll be ready to go."

The Tar Heels know they will have to improve their serving, passing and blocking.

In Saturday's loss to the Seminoles, UNC did not record a single service ace and produced a string of mental errors.

"We've made a bunch of unforced errors, consecutively," Sagula said. "If we can keep ourselves in games and not put ourselves out with unforced errors, we'll be right in it."

But more than just revenge and pride is riding on the FSU match for the Tar Heels, as they hope to earn a place in the NCAA Tournament, a feat that escaped them last season.

Finishing the regular season 16-14 and 9-7 in the conference, UNC likely will not receive a spot in the NCAA Tournament unless it garners the automatic bid from winning the ACC Tournament.

While the pressure weighs heavily, the Tar Heels are trying to focus on the first task at hand.

"The NCAA Tournament is the last thing on our minds," Sagula said. "What is more important is what (winning the ACC Tournament) will mean this weekend and not what it will mean in two weeks."

But for a senior class that won the ACC Tournament its freshman year and made it to the Sweet 16 of the 2002 Big Dance, it's hard to drive completely out of mind what a conference title could mean.

"We didn't make NCAAs last year," deRoeck said. "We want to make them this year. Winning the ACC, getting to the ACC final game, that's what it's going to take from us."

Even with so much riding on the first round, the Tar Heels simply are aiming to play their game like they know how.

"We don't have anything to lose," Pyles said. "We're just going to throw it all out there."

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.

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