Aug. 31, 2002

The North Carolina Tar Heels shocked No. 10 Wisconsin in the finals of the 2002 Carolina/Nike Classic, winning the tournament with a 3-1 win over the Badgers.

North Carolina improved to 3-0 on the young season behind the efforts of Tournament Most Valuable Player Laura Greene. Seniors Eve Rackham and Malaika Underwood also represented the Tar Heels on the All-Tournament team.

Greene, Underwood and sophomore Molly Pyles were all in double figures in kills for the match, while Underwood, Pyles, Greene, Rackham and sophomore Caroline deRoeck all had double-figure kills. Rackham dished out 60 assists and led the team with six total blocks.

The Tar Heels took the first game 30-28 on strong play by senior Holly Strauss down the stretch. Wisconsin (2-1) took an early 5-0 lead, but UNC battled back eventually tying the score at 18-18. UNC would later trail 24-27, but earned three straight points, evening the score at 27-27 on a block by Strauss. The next three points for the Tar Heels came on a kill by Strauss, a kill by Greene and a block by Strauss and Greene.

The second game was also neck-and-neck, with the Tar Heels getting the 30-28 edge. UNC trailed until a kill by Pyles knotted the match at 10-10. The match went back and forth from there with nine different ties. Down the stretch it was again the Tar Heels, this time with Pyles supplying the heroics with four kills on the final six points.

Game three saw the Tar Heels jump out to a 19-10 lead, but Wisconsin battled back. Carolina would go up again 28-21, but again the Badgers would not quit, tying the game at 28 and hanging around for a 38-36 win on a kill from Erin Byrd.

Carolina took control of the fourth game behind 10 kills by Greene. They took the lead 1-0 on a kill by Underwood and would not relinquish the advantage, eventually winning 30-23 with a game hitting percentage of .340.

For UNC, Pyles had a career high 17 kills on 46 attempts.

The Tar Heels are next in action at the University of San Diego Classic Sept. 6 and 7.