Nov. 16, 2007

Following its 3-2 come-from-behind win at Wake Forest on Wednesday the North Carolina volleyball team will look to make it seven straight wins when it takes the short road trip to Duke on Friday to take on the Blue Devils at 7 p.m. The Tar Heels hold a 6-1.5 point lead in the Carlyle Cup standings after the Carolina men's soccer won 1-0 on Wednesday retained its point. Carolina lost 3-2 in an earlier matchup against Duke in Carmichael Auditorium which gave the Blue Devils the half point. Another half point will be on the line when the two teams meet Friday.

Six Straight
Carolina picked up its sixth consecutive win on Wednesday when the Tar Heels overcame a 2-0 deficit in Winston-Salem against Wake Forest to claim a 3-2 victory. The win was just the Tar Heels' third five game win of the year and had dropped three straight five game matches before the win. The six straight wins marks the first time the Tar Heels have accomplished that feat since the 2005 squad won eight straight en route to the ACC Championship.

The Last Time Against Duke
Carolina took a one game to none lead after claiming the opening game 31-29 before dropping the next two. As the Tar Heels have done all year long they battled back and forced a fifth game with a 30-24 game four win. The Blue Devils would be the first to 15 in game five as they outlasted the Tar Heels 15-10 for the win before the hostile Carmichael crowd of more than 1,800. Four different Tar Heels reached double-figures in kills with Lauren Prussing leading the way with 12 but it was not enough to knock off the then ranked No. 13 Blue Devils. Recap | Box Score

Brooks' Block Party Continues
Sophomore Heather Brooks picked up 10 blocks against Wake Forest with nine of them being block assists. Brooks now owns the fourth-best single season total in school history with 127 this season. She is just one behind Holly Strauss' 2001 mark of 128, five behind Amber Willey's 1994 mark of 135 and 15 behind the single season leader Krista Buchholz who assisted on 142 blocks in 2000. Brooks, only a sophomore, already owns the highest career blocking average in school history with 1.27 blocks per game.

Getting Hot At The Right Time
The Tar Heels are in the midst of a 7-2 run which is something of a reoccurring trend for the Tar Heels to end the year. Just a year ago the Heels won five of their final seven games, a season after the 2005 squad won 10 of their final 13. The 2004 team went 7-4 down the stretch leading into the ACC Tournament, the final year of the tourney.