UNC softball pushes past Phoenix 11-4
North Carolina softball coach Donna Papa likes her team to imagine each hit pushing its opponent down.
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North Carolina softball coach Donna Papa likes her team to imagine each hit pushing its opponent down.
When called on to help her team finish its season strong, redshirt senior Teri Diamond is going to come out swinging — on the uneven bars, that is.
When the North Carolina gymnastics team took on No. 18 Penn State on Friday night, nothing could spoil the Tar Heels’ enthusiasm.
History repeated itself when the North Carolina gymnastics team took on Maryland in Carmichael Arena on Saturday.
For the North Carolina gymnastics team, high-pressure situations aren’t just reserved for meets.
Even coming off its worst losing streak of the season, the North Carolina volleyball team feels just as confident as ever going into its final three matches.
The North Carolina field hockey players know that the first five minutes of a game are critical for setting the pace and securing a win.
Sophomore middle hitter Shelby Bleke wasn’t surprised when the Miami volleyball team did everything in its power to slow Friday’s game. And she knew what North Carolina would have to do to maintain its momentum.
No. 14 Florida State has seen defeat this season, dropping two matches to No. 23 Tennessee and No. 2 Florida, but it hasn’t seen a loss like this one in a long time.
North Carolina volleyball coach Joe Sagula said his team doesn’t have an MVP for the pre-ACC season.
The North Carolina volleyball team traveled to Springfield, Mo., to compete in the JQH Invitational this past weekend.
Going into the 2010 season, coach Joe Sagula and the North Carolina volleyball team knew that blocking would be the team’s Achilles’ heel.
When the North Carolina volleyball team takes the court in Carmichael Arena tonight at 8, it will have a chance to make history.
With each match they play this season, the volleyball team faces a close contest. North Carolina faces a tough schedule, playing ten games against teams that qualified to the NCAA Tournament in 2009.
Coming off a victory at the East Atlantic Gymnastics League Championship, the gymnastics team is taking its preparation for NCAA Regionals one tumbling pass at a time.Before heading to the University of Missouri to compete in the program’s ninth consecutive regionals showing, coach Derek Galvin said the team will be focusing on the details in practice.“Our goal is to improve our execution and continue to keep the energy level and enthusiasm high,” Galvin said.Despite adding more difficulty to their routines at the start of the season, seniors Kara Wright and Christine Nguyen will likely not be competing their double Arabian tumbling passes in Missouri. Galvin said Wright and Nguyen will be competing double pikes, which is in keeping with the team’s goal of having precise execution in competition.“Ultimately it was best for the team,” Wright said. “It’s not an easy routine or a bad routine, it’s just cleaner. It was a good decision.”Nguyen, who bruised her knee at the team’s home meet against West Virginia on March 13, agreed that the decision to remove the more difficult pass was the right one.“I know that with a clean backup routine I can still score high,” Nguyen said.The balance beam, which proved to be the most challenging event for the team in the beginning of the season, didn’t hold the Tar Heels back from winning its first EAGL title since 2006. Even with top scores on the beam at EAGLs, the team is continuing to make beam routines a top priority in practice.“Beam is a very mental event, and we had to get our confidence up,” Wright said. “We’re doing a lot of pressure sets, where you pretend you’re competing, to keep our confidence up for regionals.”Three UNC gymnasts took the top spots in three events, with Nguyen placing first on balance beam with a score of 9.875. Sophomores Zoya Johnson and Morgan Evans took home titles on vault and uneven bars, respectively, each with a score of 9.9.Even with impressive individual performances, Wright said her teammates’ scores wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of the entire team.North Carolina will face some tough competition in the NCAAs, including No. 1 seed Georgia and No. 2 Oregon State. The Tar Heels will enter the Columbia Regional as the No. 6 seed.Even with two of the top teams in the nation competing against UNC, Galvin said the team will maintain its focus in practice.“When we focus on keeping our objectives, we don’t have time to think about the other teams,” he said. “We weren’t focused on the other teams going into EAGLs, and it will be the same going into regionals.”Galvin attributed the team’s EAGL victory to hard work and enthusiasm, and they plan to bring the same energy to the NCAAs. “Right now the team is certainly at a point where we’re physically and mentally the best we’ve been all season,” Galvin said.“We’re peaking at the right time.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
This Valentine’s Day, the UNC gymnastics team had a not-so-hot date with the balance beam. Echoing their struggles from a meet at William & Mary, the Tar Heels hit a rough patch on the balance beam and ultimately fell to Maryland in their first home meet in two years.“We just weren’t as solid on beam as we have been at practice,” coach Derek Galvin said.Despite three falls on the beam, the team lost by less than one point and placed in the top spot of each event.Senior Kara Wright placed first on vault with a score of 9.925 and tied with Elizabeth Durkac for first on uneven bars with a score of 9.825. Senior Christine Nguyen placed first on the balance beam and floor exercise with scores of 9.825 and 9.9, respectively.Galvin was pleased by the Tar Heels’ showing in the floor exercise.“We broke 49 (points) as a team,” he said. “Any time you do that, it’s a very good thing.”After starting the competition with a less-than-perfect score on vault, Nguyen had a strong performance and took the top All-Around spot.Nguyen’s strong showing included a new tumbling pass in her floor routine.“Christine did her double Arabian on floor,” Galvin said. “She and Kara just added that to their routines this week.“I know Christine was a little nervous, but she did a great floor routine.”Freshman Michelle Ikoma, who competed on the vault and floor against William & Mary on Jan. 24, joined the team’s lineup on balance beam. But it was the floor exercise she was most excited about.“Floor was awesome,” she said. “You felt the energy of the crowd and your teammates. I’m normally really tired before my last pass, but I just knew that I could do it.”Wright said she was happy about the team’s return to Carmichael Arena this year.“It’s awesome competing at home again and having the support of your home crowd,” she said.Galvin said the crowd in the Carmichael Arena — more than 2,000 were in attendance — was probably the largest he had seen of any home meet.This year, the team partnered with UNC’s Get REAL & HEEL, a program that raises awareness for breast cancer and helps survivors. The crowd wore pink in honor of the partnership, and a cancer awareness fair was held before the meet.Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
Going into the 2010 season, the gymnastics team is returning home.With renovations to Carmichael Arena complete, the Tar Heels are looking forward to a season that includes several home meets.This season marks the first time the gymnastics team will host home tournaments in two years, coach Derek Galvin said. “The only girls who have experienced competing here are our juniors and seniors, and it will be nice to have the seniors compete there for their final season,” he said.In the victory at William & Mary on Jan. 24, Galvin said the team looked confident and composed, but the last event— balance beam — was not up to optimal level.In practice, Galvin said a major priority is improving the level of execution and quality of routines.Seniors Kara Wright and Christine Nguyen agreed.“Since the last meet we’ve kind of been working on polishing our routines,” Wright said. “Now we know we can make them, so it’s all about our confidence in ourselves and in our teammates.”Nguyen added that details like hitting handstands, staying in bounds and sticking landings will be important for a winning season. Last year, UNC finished third in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League.This year, four freshmen joined the Tar Heels, and some have already been competing. Freshman Michelle Ikoma competed on vault and floor exercise at William & Mary. She said the transition into college gymnastics took her a semester to adjust, but she is ready for this season.“I’m just loving competing in college,” she said. “It’s so much more fun.”The team is hosting its first home meet on Feb. 14 against Maryland. Wright said the team has already seen improvement since its last meet, and she expects the team’s performance to get better as the season continues.“The plan is to peak at the end of the season at EAGL Championships and regionals, and we can make history,” Wright said.
This summer students are waking up earlier to prepare for their daily hike from South Campus to class.Summer School housing moved south this year with 600 on-campus students living in Horton and Koury residence halls and Ram and Odum Village during the first session.Rick Bradley assistant director of assignments and communication for housing said housing expects about 400 students living on campus for the second summer session.In past years" housing has been available further north. Bradley said several factors led to students living on South Campus this summer. He added that the main factor was availability.""The students are on South Campus because that's what was available"" he said.Bradley explained that building availability was affected by events like CTOPS, maintenance and other summer programs.Every year we deal with renovations and CTOPS" and from year to year it's different" he said.Residence halls in the upper quad are closed for both summer sessions because of sprinkler installation, Bradley said.He added that lower quad communities are closed to students so that incoming first-years and parents at CTOPS can stay close to orientation activities, while other North Campus communities are being used for summer programs like Project Uplift and athletic camps.It's like putting a jigsaw puzzle together"" he said. So far, Bradley has not received any complaints from students living on South Campus. He said he thinks that students are generally happy with the newer buildings that are being used for summer housing.Ram Village was opened in the fall of 2006, and Odum Village recently received new dressers and desks, and bathrooms are being renovated as well. Koury and Horton were completed in 2006.It's been well received"" he said.Sophomore Dasha Menafee lives in Koury. Although she is surprised that students are living on South Campus this summer, she does not feel inconvenienced by the location.I like living down there. It's new; it's a nice area to live"" she said.Brittney Akpobiyeri is a sophomore living in Horton this summer. While she said it would be easier walking to class from North Campus, her biggest concern is the lack of on-campus dining options.Akpobiyeri said that when Rams Head Dining Hall and Top of Lenoir are closed, living on campus is more challenging.I can't just walk in and swipe my card"" she said. I've spent a lot of money on food so far. I feel like that's the biggest inconvenience.""Rams Head is closed during the summer while Top of Lenoir is only open during CTOPS sessions. Lenoir Mainstreet is open most weekdays until 6 p.m." and only some of its usual vendors are in business until the fall.Dining options on Franklin Street are more than a mile's walk away.Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
UNC 2 Georgia 4Junior pitcher Danielle Spaulding did everything she could to help North Carolina stave off elimination against sixth-seeded Georgia in the NCAA Regionals on Saturday.She hit a colossal home run. She started off the sixth inning having allowed only two runs.But with UNC's NCAA hopes on the line it just wasn't enough. Georgia's Megan Wiggins hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh as the Bulldogs won 4-2 and advanced to the Super Regionals.The Bulldogs (42-10) led off with a run in the bottom of the first inning. The next three innings were scoreless until an out-of-the-park homer by Spaulding drove in two runs and gave the Tar Heels the edge at the top of the fifth.Just before Spaulding stepped to the plate" Georgia relieved their starting pitcher in favor of Christie Hamilton — the same pitcher who shut out the Tar Heels in Friday's 6-0 loss against the Bulldogs. ""She has thrown me out the whole time" Spaulding said. I got one hit off of her yesterday and it was an inside pitch. Today I was hoping she would throw it again" and that's what she did.""Spaulding also had a standout performance on the mound — holding the Bulldogs to two runs off five hits in the first six innings.""Georgia's a very good hitting team" and at one point we were up 2-1 and she shut a lot of their good hitters down — especially a lot of their good lead off hitters" coach Donna Papa said.The Tar Heel lineup, meanwhile, faced many of the same problems on the offensive end. Beside Spaudling's efforts, the other UNC batters only managed one hit on Saturday.We just didn't get the hits we needed to score the runs"" Papa said of the team's effort.Shortstop Christine Knauer also stood out with some defensive plays for the Tar Heels. Georgia had runners in scoring position in the sixth inning, and Knauer preserved the tie by stopping a groundball up the middle.Knauer said it was exciting to play under that kind of pressure.In games like this" you know they're going to be putting pressure on just the same way we do so you have to stick with it and play through it" she said.The Tar Heels were able to swing the bats during the rest of the tournament, garnering 30 runs between Thursday's 21-2 win against Campbell and Friday's 9-4 win against Radford.Included in that offensive onslaught was a three-run homer by senior Lisa Norris, which broke the tie in the top of the sixth against the Highlanders. The home run was a season first for Norris.But when it came down to Saturday's matchup, North Carolina's bats seemed to lose some of their fire.Still, at the end of the tournament, Papa said she was impressed with the team's season.I'm just really proud of our seniors"" she said. They did a great job.""Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.