Oct. 16, 2003

Chapel Hill, N.C. - North Carolina used a balanced attack to defeat Wake Forest as five different Tar Heels had double-digit kills. UNC won 3-1, as junior outside hitter Molly Pyles led the way with another double-double. Pyles finished with 13 kills and a season-high 20 digs.

"This win was extremely important," said Pyles. "We needed to bounce back from the Maryland loss and I think we did that tonight."

North Carolina lost the first game, 27-30, but came back to win the next three, 30-28, 30-23, 30-17 to win the match.

"I think in the first game, we made a lot of mental errors," said Pyles. "But we knew we had to come back and we really played well after that."

Junior middle hitter Katie Wright had 14 kills and three blocks for the Tar Heels and freshman outside hitter Meg Eckert had ten kills and 15 digs. Other key UNC contributors included junior setter Norma Cortez, senior middle hitter Aletha Green and sophomore outside hitter Dani Nyenhuis. Cortez led the Tar Heels with 48 assists and also contributed eleven digs and four service aces. Green had eleven kills and a team-high five blocks. Nyenhuis chipped in with her sixth double-double of the season, as she had 13 kills and eleven digs.

"This was a very big win," said head coach Joe Sagula. "We are constantly trying to find out who we are. We are showing some greatness, but we are also showing our youth."

Wake Forest was led by Valerie Rydberg, as she had 15 kills and thirteen digs. Other key contributors included Christy Williams and Kim Stern. Williams had twelve kills and five blocks while Stern had 13 kills and three blocks.

The Tar Heels resume play on Friday, Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Dean E. Smith Center.

"I'm very much looking forward to it," said Pyles. "The freshmen are going to get to see what a special event it is."

"The question for us, is if we can play this well tomorrow," said Sagula. "For us to finish the first half of the ACC season at 6-2 would be huge for us."