Dec. 10, 2002

NCAA Regional Match Notes in PDF Format
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No. 11 North Carolina, the 11th seed in the 2002 NCAA Division I Volleyball Tournament, will head to Lincoln, Neb. this week to make its first appearance in the Sweet 16 in the 22 years of the tournament's existence. The team moved up two spots in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches' Poll yesterday to No. 11 after advancing to the Sweet 16.

The Tar Heels will play the sixth-seeded University of Hawai'i at 6 p.m. ET Friday. Hawaii is currently ranked No. 2 in the coaches' poll and has a 32-1 record this season. The Rainbow Wahines' only loss came to Stanford. Nebraska, the third-seed, will face Miami (Fla.) in the other regional match at 8 p.m. ET. The winners will play Saturday at 8 p.m. ET for a chance to go to the Final Four in New Orleans. The matches will be played in the University of Nebraska Coliseum.

The team leaves campus Wednesday at 3 p.m., flying out of Raleigh-Durham and through St. Paul, Minn. before arriving in Lincoln.

The Tar Heels advanced to the Regional with a 3-0 win over Winthrop in the First Round and a 3-1 victory of South Carolina in the Second Round in Chapel Hill. The Rainbow Wahine swept First-Round opponent Western Kentucky and Second-Round foe Washington. Nebraska advanced with sweeps of Tennessee-Martin and Arizona State, while Miami swept Duke and topped Wisconsin 3-1.

The Tar Heels (32-3) earned an at large bid to the tournament after just two regular season losses and a 15-1 Atlantic Coast Conference record. Carolina is one of four ACC teams to make the tournament - and the first to make the Sweet 16 since 1994. Both Duke and Florida State made First Round exits, and Georgia Tech advanced to the Second Round with a win over Florida A&M before falling to seventh-seeded Minnesota.

Carolina has a 5-8 record all-time in the NCAA tournament.