Nov. 7, 2002

Senior Laura Greene, an outside hitter for the Tar Heels, received her second ACC Player of the Week honor this past week after leading the team to two conference wins. Greene, currently leads the team in digs (314) and kills (360) for the season. She also ranks third in digs and second in kills in the ACC.

Carolina is currently ranked 12th in the country as they boast a 23-2 overall record, 10-1 in the ACC.

TarHeelBlue.com caught up with Greene, a senior from Yadkinville, N.C., as she and her fellow Tar Heels prepared for a pair of road ACC matchups this weekend at Duke (Friday) and Wake Forest (Saturday).

TarHeelBlue.com - How does it feel to win the ACC Player of the Week Award for the second time this season?

Laura Greene - I think it is a great credit to our team that we are having success and they look to our team to find someone who is having a good week. I think we all had a great weekend. I thought Molly (Pyles) did too. I'm not really a fan of individual awards, but I think it was a great weekend and they had no choice but to give it to someone on our team. It's a good feeling though.

THB - How is the relationship of the four seniors?

LG - Freshmen year a lot of us got thrown out there and we had to kind of feel our way and we mostly kept quiet and played our roles. I think as time went on we realized that we could be four impact players for the program and take it to the next level and really make a statement.

THB - Have you grown together?

LG - Definitely. College is such a hard time and we each know that all four of us are there for each other no matter what. It's great because we've been here together and we have a great friendship in addition to being teammates.

THB - What are the keys to this team's success?

LG - I think a lot of it is the fact that we have the experienced four seniors who have been here so long. We have great freshmen and underclassmen that are pushing the first team hard. We had a great pre-season as well - everyone worked really hard in the off-season to get stronger.

THB - Every ACC game is important, but is there an extra incentive for winning when you play Duke?

LG - There is an incentive with playing everyone this year because everyone has given us their best game, but especially with Duke because of the rivalry.

I was surprised at how emotionless the game was when we played them here so I'm really expecting them to play with everything they have on Friday night. It will be an exciting match.

THB - Does the crowd get excited in Cameron Indoor Stadium?

LG - They don't normally have a huge crowd, but I'm assuming they will for this game.

THB - Why should people come see this team play?

LG - I think we play great defense. Volleyball is not promoted at all in comparison to a lot of other sports. So, I think people don't realize how exciting it is. I think everyone on our team plays great defense and the rallies are long and exciting and we get excited when we play.

THB - Your brother, Chad, played quarterback at Western Carolina. Did you feel pressure to excel in sports because of him?

LG - No pressure. Maybe a little sibling rivalry. I wanted to go out and be just as good as him. If anything, he inspired me to play a lot and I was shown a lot of different experiences.

THBWhat is your favorite sport besides volleyball?

LG - Probably basketball. I enjoy playing it. I also like to play beach volleyball, but that is not much different.

I also love watching football because of my brother so I love going those games.

THB - Do you miss playing basketball?

LG - I miss games, but it is a really long court and I hated running it so I didn't enjoy that part of it.

THB - Did you think about playing college basketball?

LG - My high school coach thought about that, but it never crossed my mind.