By R.L. Bynum
After a Wednesday court ruling, Sietske Brüning, Ryleigh Heck and Dani Mendez are playing in North Carolina’s field hockey games this weekend in the Bay Area.
Wednesday’s ruling came from Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Kara Krothe in Indiana, who granted an injunction restoring a fifth season of eligibility to Brüning, Heck and Mendez, along with UNC football kicker Rece Verhoff and dozens of other athletes involved in the case.
UNC said in a release that it didn’t want to publicly announce the decision to play the three players until it was sure that it had done all of its due diligence.
“This team, my coaching staff and I are focused on working every day to put our best product on the field,” UNC coach Erin Matson said. “We are very proud of the growth this group has shown and look forward to watching them develop to their full potential. Obviously, we are encouraged by the most recent ruling for Dani, Ryleigh and Sietske, who have been with us all season, selflessly investing in this program. We will continue working with our administration to explore the ways they can contribute to this year’s team.”
Early Friday evening, a video showing the three jerseys hanging in front of their lockers was posted on the UNC field hockey X account.
Their return gave a boost to UNC (4–4, 1–1 ACC), which is unranked for the first time in program history. The Tar Heels rolled to an 8–1 victory Friday night at Stanford, with Heck scoring two goals. They play at California at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday in a game that will stream on ACC Network Extra.
Heck is a two-time national champion who was named the national player of the year in 2023. She finished last season with 19 goals and 13 assists and was a first-team All-American.
Brüning was also part of UNC’s 2022 and 2023 national championship teams and was a second-team All-American last season.
Mendez transferred to UNC from Virginia before the 2025 season and immediately became one of the Tar Heels’ most productive offensive players. She started all 23 games last season and finished with 15 goals and 16 assists.
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Photo image from @UNCFieldHockey tweet
