Carolina Advances To Round Of 16
Seventh-ranked and sixth-seed North Carolina will face 10th-ranked Arizona State in the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 on Thursday, May 16 at the Taube Family Tennis Center in Palo Alto, Calif. Carolina (24-4) posted back-to-back shutout victories over Loyola (Md.) and Furman this past weekend in Chapel Hill to earn a berth in the round of 16 for the first time in school history. Carolina is making its fourth overall and fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, but had never moved past the second round in three previous trips. The Tar Heels have won 17 of their last 18 matches after starting the season 7-3.

Should Carolina defeated Arizona State, the Tar Heels would face the winner of the Stanford vs. Kentucky match on Friday, May 17. The semifinals and finals of the Tournament will be held Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Three Carolina individual players, including Marlene Mejia, Kate Pinchbeck and Julie Rotondi, also will be competing in the Individual Championships, May 20-25.

The Match Is A Rematch
Carolina and Arizona State will be facing each other for the second time this season when the two schools meet in the NCAA Tournament. Earlier this year, Carolina traveled to Tempe and defeated the ninth-ranked Sun Devils, 4-3. Dominant play at the top of the lineup led the Tar Heels to victory. Marlene Mejia, Kate Pinchbeck and Julie Rotondi all won their matches in straight sets in the top three flights. Mejia defeated Adria Engel, 6-0, 6-2 at flight one, Pinchbeck beat Dora Krstulovic, 6-2, 6-2 in flight two and Rotondi swept Mhairi Brown, 6-4, 6-1 in flight three. Aniela Mojzis scored the fourth point for the Tar Heels, defeating Megan Yeats, 6-3, 6-0.

Tar Heels Produce Most Successful Season Ever
Carolina is enjoying its most successful season in school history. The Tar Heels won the ACC Tournament for the first time since 1980 and have advanced further in the NCAA Tournament than any other previous UNC squad. In addition, Carolina's 24 wins are the most in school history since the 1985 team went 24-10.

Carolina played one of the toughest schedules in the country with 20 matches against ranked opponents and 10 matches against Top 10 opponents.

The Tar Heels' success earned them home court advantage in the NCAA regionals for the first time in school history. Carolina's three previous NCAA Tournament appearances came under former coach Roland Thornqvist, who is now the head coach at Florida.

Tar Heels Claim ACC Championship For First Time In 21 Years
UNC earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after a 4-3 victory over Duke in the ACC Championship final on April 21. The victory gave the Tar Heels their first ACC championship since the conference adopted a dual match format in 1986 and their first title since the 1980-81 school year. UNC has won a total of five ACC titles.

Carolina defeated No. 47 Florida State and No. 8 Wake Forest to set up the championship final against No. 4 Duke. UNC scored the first point with doubles victories at flights two and three. Duke scored three singles wins and Carolina's Julie Rotondi and Aniela Mojzis won their singles matches to set up the No. 2 match between Kate Pinchbeck and Duke's Amanda Johnson as the clincher.

Pinchbeck won the third set, 6-0 to seal the victory and earn tournament MVP honors.

Four Tar Heels Make All-ACC Team
Four Carolina players earned a spot on the All-ACC team as voted on by the conference's nine head coaches. It is the first time in school history that Carolina has had four players earn all-conference honors in the same season. Marlene Mejia, Kate Pinchbeck, Julie Rotondi and Aniela Mojzis filled four of the 12 spots on the squad, leaving Carolina with the most players honored in 2002.

Pinchbeck, Rotondi and Mejia are all ranked in the ITA top 40. Pinchbeck is ranked No. 14, Rotondi is No. 34 and Mejia is No. 36. All three players are scheduled to compete in the NCAA Individual Championships scheduled for May 20-25 in Palo Alto, Calif.

NORTH CAROLINA (24-4 Overall)
ITA Ranking: No. 7

Projected Singles Lineup
No. 1 Marlene Mejia, Junior (15-9)
No. 2 Kate Pinchbeck, Junior (26-1)
No. 3 Julie Rotondi, Sophomore (23-4)
No. 4 Aniela Mojzis, Freshman (21-7)
No. 5 Lee Bairos, Sophomore (17-5)
No. 6 Kendall Cline, Freshman (14-5)

Projected Doubles Lineup
No. 1 Mejia/Rotondi (7-7)
No. 2 Cline/Mojzis (16-7)
No. 3 Bairos/Pinchbeck (13-3)