Sports Monday
Powerful Cavaliers Stroke Past UNC Swim Teams
By James Giza
Staff Writer
Members of the North Carolina
women’s swimming and diving team
huddled
together on
the side of the
pool at Koury
Natatorium
and chanted
Men's
Swimming
Virginia 176
UNC 124
at their Virginia foe until the walls
echoed with the sound of their exhila-
rated voices.
“Swimming
talent you
don’t lack, but
just remember
Women's
Swimming
Virginia 158
UNC 142
FSU Feasts on Free-Falling Tar Heels
By Hugh Pressley
Senior Writer
Consecutive losses, irate fans calling
for the head coach’s head, dejected play
ers and unanswered questions were sup
posed to have been North Carolina
sports themes
that flatlined
during the last
century. You
know, back
on Nov. 20
Men's
Basketball
Florida State . .76
UNC 71
when the UNC football team ended its
embarrassing 3-8 campaign in 1999.
But on Saturday at the sold-out Smith
Center, the soon-to-be-unranked No. 21
North Carolina basketball team proved
head coach Bill
Guthridge right:
“Losing is con
tagious.”
Playing with
out senior floor
leader Ed Cota
Athletic Wing Men
Pose Problems
For UNC Defense
See Page 13
- who missed Saturday’s game due to a
viral infection - the Tar Heels struggled to
take care of the ball down the stretch and
played playground defense against
Florida State en route to a 76-71 loss,
UNC’s fourth consecutive defeat.
The loss - UNC’s sixth in its last nine
games - snapped the Tar Heels’ five
game win streak against the Seminoles.
UNC (11-8, 2-3 in the ACC) is off to its
worst start since 1964-65, when former
coach Dean Smith’s name might as well
have been Rodney Dangerfield.
“One of the bad things is that losing
is contagious, and I think we need to
feel that we can win,” Guthridge said.
“We’ve had times like this in the past -
we just have to overcome it. Winning is
contagious, too.”
So why exactly in the name of Dean
Smith haven’t the Tar Heels been able to
catch that winning fever - the one every
knowledgeable hoops aficionado this
side of the solar system is accustomed to?
Some say Guthridge, who is 69-22
daring his three seasons as head coach,
is not capable of managing a team and
does not have the personality to moti
vate his players. When asked during
postgame interviews about his coaching
future, Guthridge succinctly said, “I
haven’t even thought about my future.”
Others say North Carolina basketball
simply lacks the talent and athleticism that
UNC Freshman Shines at ACC Indoor
Marlene Mejia will compete
today at Cone-Kenfield Tennis
Center in the final of the
ACC Indoor Championships.
By Roland Hoffman
Staff Writer
In her first year on the North
Carolina women’s tennis team, Marlene
Mejia is making a big impact.
The fifth-seeded Mejia played her
way into the singles bracket finals at the
ACC Indoor Championships at Cone-
Kenfield Tennis Center on Sunday. The
match, against top-seeded Adria Engel
of Wake Forest, will be played today.
Wake Forest’s Anne Marie Milton
became Mejia’s latest victim in her run
to the finals. On Sunday, Milton fell to
Mejia 6-3, 6-2.
Mejia defeated Georgia Tech’s Bobbie
Guthrie 6-1, 7-5 on Friday to advance to
the quarterfinals after opening the tour
nament with a first-round bye.
. On Saturday, she lost the first set to
Virginia's Moses
Upstages UNC's
Quinn, Slawinski
See Page 11
we’ll be back,”
they yelled as
one.
If the day’s
events were
any indication.
the Tar Heels will undoubtedly be back
for the ACC Championships in
February. And they won’t be for gun
ning for a close second place.
The 17th-ranked UNC women lost a
tough one to the Bth-ranked Cavaliers
on Sunday, 158-142. The men, ranked
20th in the nation, also dropped their
meet against No. 10 UVa., losing
176-124.
Unlike the women’s meet, the men’s
contest was not in doubt after the first
the Tar Heels of old boasted with players
such as Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison,
Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace.
But opinions in Chapel Hill are like
sport-utility vehicles: Everyone has one.
And opinions, by definition, are mere
ly subjective.
Many, including Guthridge and
UNC’s players, point to the team’s more
obvious shortcomings -most notably the
team’s inability to suffocate opponents on
the defensive end and simultaneously
make an offensive mn of its own.
On Dec. 1, it was Michigan State’s
Morris Peterson who ran through
UNC’s ‘D’ like his name was Marshall
Faulk, scoring 31 points in the Tar Heels’
first loss of the season. On Jan. 12, it was
Wake Forest’s Robert O’Kelley who
erased North Carolina’s 10-point sec
ond-halflead with 18 second-half points
to hand the Tar Heels the first ‘L’ of their
current four-game skid.
And on Saturday, FSU forward
Damous Anderson played the role of Tar
Heel killer, scoring 25 points on 9-of-15
shooting - including 4 of 5 from trifecta
land. UNC looked as if it was in won
derland at times on defense, giving up 10
3-pointers on 18 attempts and allowing
FSU (8-8, 3-2) to shoot 50.9 percent
from the floor, 10 percentage points bet
ter than its season average.
“We’ve got to get better individually
and as a team and defensively,” UNC for
wardjason Capel said. “We can score on
anybody; we just need to stop people.”
Maybe the Tar Heels should first con
centrate on not stopping themselves.
The Tar Heels - even with Cota in the
lineup - have been plagued with
turnovers all season, both giving up too
many in clutch situations and not creat
ing enough. UNC came into Saturday
with a minus-three turnover margin, and
sans Cota things weren’t much different.
The Tar Heels had 11 turnovers in
the second half against FSU, including
three in the last four minutes, which
thwarted their comeback effort.
“It’s hard to lose three close games
like (this),” UNC’s Brendan Haywood
said. “At the end you have a chance to
win, and every time it seems like things
don’t go your way. It’s very frustrating.”
Freshman Jonathan Holmes made a
valiant attempt to end UNC’s frustra-
See MEN'S BASKETBALL, Page 13
Maryland’s
Catherine Valantin
and then rallied to
win 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Later in the day,
she disposed of
another Terrapin,
Jessica Johnson, in
the quarterfinals
6-3, 7-5.
Mejia’s strong
play didn’t stay in
the singles brack
et. She paired
with junior Erin
Niebling in dou
bles and moved to
UNC senior
Jessica Zaganczyk
advanced to the
semifinals of the
singles consolation
bracket.
the quarterfinals. The duo played the
Clemson pair of Laurence Javet and
Anna Savitskaya on Sunday. The Tiger
pair won en route to a berth in today’s
doubles final.
Fellow UNC freshman Kendrick
Bunn gave a strong performance as well,
advancing to the semifinals of the singles
consolation bracket. The No. 2 seed,
Janet Bergman of Wake Forest, topped
Bunn to reach the finals.
H
few events. The
Cavaliers (5-1, 3-1
in the ACC)
outscored UNC
in the opening six
races, building a
substantial lead
that that the Tar
Heels (5-3, 2-1)
were unable to
dent.
However,
North Carolina
coach Frank
Comfort said he
was encouraged
by the effort of his
young team.
Tar Heel diver
Stephen Krebs
won the
1- and 3-meter
diving events at
Sunday's meet.
g.,-, y
I ■ /'-. - IB
L T" -1 ft
A l iii* vt ,
Igljl
v D'lH/JEFF POULAND
UNC forward Kris Lang played just 23 minutes in the Tar Heels' loss to Florida State because of a stomach virus.
“Kendrick and Marlene have really
played well,” UNC coach Roland
Thornqvist said. “The freshmen are
going to be a key for us this year.”
The great play did not stop at the
first-year players. Senior Jessica
Zaganczyk moved into the finals of the
singles consolation bracket after winning
two matches on Sunday. She will face
Bergman for the championship today.
‘Jessica has come on strong and
probably played her best match of the
tournament today,” Thornqvist said.
“We made some tactical changes, and
Jessica was able to execute them and it
paid off”
The event has been dominated by
Wake Forest. Six Demon Deacons
reached the round of 16, including Milton
and Engel. The Deacons also had two of
the final four teams in doubles play.
Along with having players in both
singles finals, the Deacon duo of Engel
and Bea Bielik advanced to the doubles
final. They face Javet and Savitskaya
today for the title.
Poor play in Friday’s opening round
eliminated many Tar Heel players. Four
“Our goal with the men was to have
everybody swim better than they have
at basically any time this year,” Comfort
said. “And to a large extent, we accom
plished that.”
Brad Kline took first in the 500-yard
freestyle and turned in a season-best
time for a second-place finish in the
200-yard freestyle. Chris Helin also
dropped his season-best in the 200-yard
backstroke en route to a first place finish.
The lone double-event winner for the
Tar Heels was diver Stephen Krebs, who
took first in both the 1-meter and
3-meter diving competitions.
The UNC women, meanwhile,
threatened to overtake UVa. the entire
meet. Relying on their depth, the Tar
doubles teams moved to the round of
16, three of whom had first-round byes.
Mejia and Niebling were the only pair to
move any further.
UNC bounced back, though, with
strong play in the singles consolation
bracket. Zaganczyk and Bunn reached
the singles semifinals, and junior Kristin
Koenig advanced to the quarterfinals.
“We sort of struggled a little bit the first
day,” Thornqvist said. “I don’t think we
were real match tough. We had a few kids
who hadn’t played a match since October.
I think it showed a little bit, but we got
better as the tournament went along.”
The quick start by the younger play
ers has not surprised Thornqvist, he said.
He credits their play to the strong lead
ership that the older players have pro
vided.
“To have good freshmen, you’ve got
to have good seniors,” Thornqvist said.
“So far, the seniors have done a great
job helping the freshmen out, and that
has been a key.”
The Sports Editor can be reached at
sports@unc.edu.
UNC Netters
Take Swings
In ACC Play
Senior Tripp Phillips
(left) was one of three
UNC tennis players who
competed in the round
of 16 at the ACC Indoor
Championships this
weekend. See Page 11.
*1
Heels (7-2, 2-1) managed only five first
place finishes but consistently finished
second, third and fourth to keep the
pressure on the Cavs (6-0, 4-0).
Katie Hathaway led the team with
victories in the 100- and 200-yard breast
stroke events as well as the 200-yard
individual medley. However, a couple of
close finishes proved in the end to be the
Tar Heels’ undoing.
In the first event, the UNC 200-yard
medley relay team of Summer Mack,
Katie Hathaway, Christy Watkins and
Stefanie Ruiis let an early lead slip away
before being nipped at the wall by .02
seconds. Three events later, Mack was
edged by .08 seconds in the 100-yard
backstroke.
Wf ii’o' / *’ -
“ifeAufj Ay! jißKvßv * ol ,
-v;\
"•'- J ‘* . lit V ’ gggh&g
DTH/ELAN DASSANI
UNC's Marlene Mejia will play Wake Forest's Adria Engel in today's final.
INSIDE:
i UNC wrestling
team picks up home
victory against
The Citadel. Page 11
■ Tar Heel track and
field teams kick off
indoor season in
Blacksburg, Va.
Page 11
The Tar Heels entered the final event,
the 400-yard freestyle relay, trailing
158-142 and needing to finish at least
first and third for the victory. When
UVa. touched the wall first, UNC knew
its hopes were over. But Mack, like the
rest of the team, said she was thrilled by
her team’s performance.
“At an ACC meet depth is the key,
whereas here (a dual meet) if you have
one or two outstanding swimmers that
counts for a lot,” Mack said. “Our team
has a lot of depth - thirds, fourths and
fifths -and that’s what counts the mos.t
at ACCs.”
The Sports Editor can be reached at
sports@unc.edu.
Teasley
To Rejoin
Tar Heels
The North Carolina women's
basketball team fell to lowa
State and lost for the sixth
time in its last seven tries.
Staff Report
Nikki Teasley is getting closer and
closer to suiting up for the North
Carolina women’s basketball team
again.
On Thursday, Teasley popped into
the Tar Heel
locker room
before UNC’s
77-67 victory'
against Florida
State and left
Women’s
Basketball
UNC 67
lowa State .. .79
a note on the team’s message board.
Then, just before UNC jumped with
No. 8 lowa State on Sunday, the Tar
Heels announced that Teasley who
left the team Jan. 5
- would return to
the team on a lim
ited basis.
“Nikki has been
working proactive
ly to resolve some
personal issues,”
UNC coach Sylvia
Hatchell said in a
press release.
“This work is
ongoing, and her
return to the team
will be on a grad
ual basis. She will
watch practice on
Monday, and
we’ll go from there.
UNC point guard
Nikki Teasley
has missed
six games since
she left the team
Jan. 5.
“It has not yet been determined
when she will rejoin competition, but
we’re happy that she’s going to be back
with the team.”
But Teasley’s return was the only
good news for UNC on Sunday as it lost
to lowa State 79-67 - the sixth Tar Heel
loss in seven games.
Stacy Frese and Megan Taylor each
Sec WOMEN'S BASKETBALL, Page 11
16