Covering Carolina athletics beyond men’s basketball and football, with dedicated reporting on women’s basketball and baseball, in addition to covering other sports that rarely draw media attention
CHAPEL HILL — Kate Harpring arrived at Carolina with the sort of lofty expectations that come with being at the top of your freshman class nationally. The talented 5–10 guard will be a star on a veteran team that comes off back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances, and Coach Courtney Banghart quickly declared her probably the fastest player on the team.
North Carolina matched its season-high ranking in the Top 25 women’s soccer poll, moving up two spots to No. 7 after a pair of victories last week in Arizona. The Tar Heels (5-1) defeated Arizona 2-1 on Thursday and Arizona State 1-0 on Sunday. They are one of seven ACC teams in the United Soccer Coaches poll and one of five ranked in the top 10.
Tar Heels fans have long known how to celebrate a win, a rivalry, and pretty much anything involving the color Carolina blue. Now, for the first time, they can toast to it with something that shows their school spirit via official spirits. UNC Athletics has teamed up with North Carolina-based Cape Fear Distillery to launch the Spirit of Carolina Collection, the university’s first officially licensed line of Tar Heels-branded spirits.
After a pair of victories last weekend, North Carolina jumped five spots in the Top 25 field hockey poll to No. 5 and two stars who led the victories earned swept weekly ACC honors.
CHAPEL HILL — If there was an area of concern coming out of the opening-game victory over TCU in Dublin, it was the inconsistency of the rushing attack even as the offensive line stood out as a strength.
CHAPEL HILL — Bill Belichick spent the majority of Monday’s press conference deflecting questions about the investigation surrounding his program, but when the subject turned to football, he had plenty to say. UNC (1–0) hosts East Tennessee State (1–1) at noon at Kenan Stadium (ACC Network) in a game that also marks the 100th anniversary of the stadium’s opening, and Belichick acknowledged the milestone before turning his attention fully to the opponent and how he used the time during the week off.
Former UNC linebacker Cedric Gray has entered the NFL’s concussion protocol after being involved in an accident over the weekend, the Tennessee Titans announced Monday.
CHAPEL HILL — There was one subject most reporters wanted to ask Coach Bill Belichick about, but he did his best to weave around the questions that were asked in dozens of ways. With questions swirling around the program after Michael Lombardi resigned as general manager, there were news reporters from every Triangle TV station, in addition to the sports anchors, and two stations had news anchors on hand for Monday morning’s press conference at the Kenan Football Center.
After thousands of miles of travel that included a trip to Dublin and a pair of victories in Arizona, No. 9 North Carolina finally heads home. The Tar Heels closed out the road trip with stingy defense and a clutch penalty kick, escaping a match they controlled all day with a 1–0 victory Sunday over Arizona State at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.
CHAPEL HILL — While the shots were hard to come by for No. 10 North Carolina, goaltender Merritt Skubisz and her defense kept the Tar Heels in the game. The sophomore goaltender got her second shutout of the weekend to push No. 2 Princeton into a shootout, where Carolina prevailed 3–2 to earn a 1–0 victory Sunday at Karen Shelton Stadium.
CHAPEL HILL — Of the 16 players on Michael Malone’s first UNC roster, only two scholarship guards remain from last season’s group: Isaiah Dennis and Jaden Young. The rest of the backcourt had to be built from scratch after the departures of Seth Trimble, Derek Dixon, Kyan Evans and Jonathan Powell. Malone didn’t waste time.
CHAPEL HILL — One of Michael Malone’s biggest early tasks was rebuilding a frontcourt gutted by the departures of Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar to the NBA. Months later, the first-year coach made clear he believes the group he assembled gives Carolina exactly the kind of size, length and versatility he wants to build around.
No. 19 Carolina volleyball needed every ounce of composure it could find Friday night, and Bridget Malone gave the Tar Heels more than enough to work with. UNC outlasted Colorado State 3–2 in a five-set battle at Carmichael Arena after winning the first two sets but needing to narrowly win the deciding set 16–14.
CHAPEL HILL — After one-goal losses and its first 0–2 start in five years, North Carolina’s field hockey team clearly has turned an early corner. The young No. 10 Tar Heels, who lost 67% of their goal production from last season’s Final Four team, steamrolled Penn 7–0 Friday evening at Karen Shelton Stadium in the Conference Crossover event.
CHAPEL HILL — Michael Malone spent 25 years in the NBA, the last 12 as a head coach in Denver, working with players whose games he knew inside and out before they ever stepped on the floor for him. When he took over at North Carolina in April, he inherited a completely different job, one that started with a stack of names he didn’t recognize.
