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The Daily Tar Heel

Sports roundup: Volleyball, softball, men's soccer and tennis sweep Friday opponents

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UNC redshirt senior Kristina Burkhardt (10) takes a swing in Anderson Softball Stadium in Chapel Hill, NC on Feb. 20, 2021. The Syracuse Orange beat the Tar Heels 3-2.

With several of North Carolina's fall sports teams adding spring seasons to their 2020-2021 schedules, The Daily Tar Heel will be recapping some of the action from this spring's busy weekends in roundups every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Volleyball: UNC 3, Syracuse 2

In its ACC spring season opener, the UNC volleyball team (8-3, 7-2 ACC) defeated Syracuse (4-5, 4-5 ACC) on Friday in Syracuse, N.Y. 

UNC struggled to find its offensive rhythm early in the match, dropping the first set, 25-14. However, after going down 3-0 at the beginning of the second set, the Tar Heels began to gain confidence behind dominant play from sophomore Parker Austin and eventually pulled away to win the second set, 25-18. 

In the third set, UNC took control and jumped out to a 14-6 lead, and despite a Syracuse run, strong play from senior Emily Zinger helped the Tar Heels preserve a 25-21 victory. After Syracuse won the fourth set, 25-19, the match came down to a decisive fifth set. 

While both teams traded points early, several kills from Austin, Zinger and first-year Kaya Merkler allowed the Tar Heels to close out the match with an 18-16 win.

Austin totaled 23 kills and 20 digs, leading the team in both categories. Sophomore Skyy Howard led the team in blocks with five.

UNC will look to continue its success when the team faces Clemson (9-6, 3-5 ACC) on Saturday at noon.

Devin Wu, staff writer

Men's tennis: UNC 4, Louisville 1

The No. 1 UNC men’s tennis team (9-0, 3-0 ACC) took 4-1 a victory at Louisville (5-5, 1-4) on Saturday afternoon, continuing its perfect start to the season and extending its win streak to 11 straight dual matches, spanning back to last season.

The Tar Heels first won the doubles point, with senior Benjamin Sigouin and first-year Rinky Hijikata winning their matchup 6-1, and senior pair Mac Kiger and Josh Peck winning 6-4. The UNC team won three singles matchups, with those wins coming from Kiger, first-year Logan Zapp and No. 55 Hijikata, who clinched the Tar Heel win with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) win over No. 71 Tim Chen.

The Cardinals' only point of the day came from Sergio Hernandez, who defeated junior Brian Cernoch 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).

With Saturday's win extending UNC's winning streak to an impressive 11, the Tar Heels will hope to continue their winning ways in their next matchup against Notre Dame on Sunday, March 7.

Sophia Czekalski, staff writer

Softball: UNC 3, UConn 1

The UNC softball team (6-5, 4-1 ACC) started off the Carolina Classic in Chapel Hill with a  3-1 win in eight innings over UConn (6-6). UNC went 1-4 in its last five games at the Crimson Classic, so starting off strong was a priority for the Tar Heels.

The Tar Heels found themselves down 1-0 at the start of the seventh inning. At the bottom of the seventh, UNC got the swing of momentum it needed, with a UConn fielding error leading to a score from redshirt senior outfielder Kristina Burkhardt. 

At the bottom of the eighth, junior catcher Taylor Greene sealed the win with a walk-off home run to right field, driving sophomore outfielder Bri Stubbs home and giving the Tar Heels a 3-1 victory. 

Fifth-year Brittany Pickett pitched a strong eight innings, allowing only three hits while notching 11 strikeouts. Pickett and the Tar Heels will take the field in Chapel Hill again against No. 17 South Carolina on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Dylan Cable, staff writer

Men's soccer: UNC 3, Pittsburgh 0

After opening its spring season with a loss to Liberty last Thursday, the UNC men’s soccer team (4-3-2, 4-1-2 ACC) rebounded with an impressive home win against No. 4 Pittsburgh (8-2-0, 4-1-0) on Friday night.

UNC’s defense was the story in the first half, as the team’s press bothered Pitt for all 45 minutes. The Tar Heels were able to intercept a couple of passes that ultimately led to a quick goal by sophomore forward Jonathan Jimenez in the 11th minute. The Tar Heels outshot the Panthers 5-0 in the first half, giving the team a 1-0 lead entering the break.

UNC continued its dominant performance in the second half. In the 54th minute, forward Giovanni Montesdeoca extended the team’s lead to 2-0 after scoring a goal that was assisted by Jimenez. In the 67th minute, Montesdeoca scored another goal off a penalty kick, bringing the lead to 3-0. The Tar Heels held that lead for the remainder of the contest, and ultimately clinched a much-needed win against Pitt.

North Carolina will wrap up its three-game homestand on March 13, when the Tar Heels return to Dorrance Field to take on the Virginia Cavaliers at 7 p.m.

Tim Yeung, staff writer