Thursday night game gives Tar Heels a chance to move on

Larry Fedora.
Larry Fedora.
The 1-4 UNC Tar Heels try to turn around a disappointing season on national TV Thursday in an ACC game at home against Miami in what is billed Zero Dark Thursday.

“It should be a lot of fun,” UNC coach Larry Fedora said. “It doesn’t matter what’s going on that is definitely disappointing. But it’s not going to take any luster off of what we do Thursday night. We’re focusing on the next game and we can’t worry about what’s happened in the past. We have to learn from the mistakes, the corrections that we’ve made and just move on.”

This will be Fedora’s first night game in Chapel Hill as coach of the Heels.

“That’s always fun when you turn the lights on, you want to play under the lights,” Fedora said. “The whole thing around Thursday night football now, I mean it’s kind of the thing to do. People go home when they get off work and they watch Thursday night football and it’s college football. All eyes are on you. It should be a lot of fun. I think our guys are jacked up and excited about playing.”

Fedora hasn’t talked to his team about any remaining goals this season. “The only goal that we’re focused on right now is being 1-0. That’s it, just 1-0.”

Bryn Renner will be back at QB.

Black uniforms

Carolina’s all-black uniform is the first installment of the “Tar Pit Series,” which will feature an alternate
uniform or helmet for one game each year. This year’s alternate uniform color has been taken from
the black tar in the Tar Heel logo.

“We wanted to design a uniform that connected our team to The Tar Pit, our name for the student section,” Fedora said. “Make no mistake, Carolina Blue and white will always be our traditional colors. It made sense to have a black-out game this year after the success of last season’s white-out game vs. Virginia Tech (a 48-34 UNC victory).”

Mike Fox to speak at Raleigh Sports Club luncheon

UNC coach Mike Fox.
UNC coach Mike Fox.
UNC head baseball coach Mike Fox will speak at Raleigh Sports Club luncheon Wednesday, Oct. 16.

Coach Fox will discuss the incoming recruiting class and the upcoming Atlantic Coast Conference season. UNC has one of the top recruiting classes after coming off a trip to the 2013 College World Series.

Gabby Benda, a volleyball player at Wakefield High School, will be honored as the Student Athlete of the Week.

The Forks Cafeteria caters a delicious Southern Buffet. Buffet lines open early this week at 11:30 am. The meeting starts at 12 noon and generally concludes by 1 p.m. Meeting location is Highland UMC (Bradley Hall) at 1901 Ridge Road at the intersection of Lake Boone Trail, just inside the Raleigh Beltline.

Annual Dues for the 2013 – 2014 season are $60. Members’ weekly attendance fee is $15 while guest fees for members of the public are $25.

NC State volleyball upsets Duke to snap Devils 10-match streak

State Coach Bryan Bunn.
State Coach Bryan Bunn.
The Duke volleyball team saw its 10-match win streak come to an end as the Blue Devils fell 3-1 (25-22, 15-25, 21-25, 21-25) to NC State Sunday afternoon in Reynolds Coliseum.

See video highlights here.

Duke (14-3, 5-1 ACC) struggled to slow an aggressive NC State (14-4, 5-1 ACC) offensive attack, which posted a .317 hitting percentage including a .432 clip in the final frame. Four Wolfpack players reached double-digit kills, led by outside hitter Dariyan Hopper’s 18. Hopper committed just three attack errors on the day, good for a match-high .484 hitting percentage.

Sophomore Emily Sklar totaled 17 kills to pace the Duke offense, picking up her ninth straight match with double-digit kills. Junior Jeme Obeime led Duke with a .333 hitting percentage, knocking down 13 kills. Sophomore Elizabeth Campbell registered her second double-double on the year, adding 10 kills and 10 digs on the day.

Duke sprinted out to an early 8-2 advantage to open the match and seemed in complete control heading down the stretch. However, NC State rallied to pull within one, 23-22, before back-to-back Obeime kills secured the 1-0 lead for Duke. Obeime led all players with seven kills in the opening frame, followed closely by Sklar with six.

Errors proved costly for the Blue Devils in the second stanza as Duke dropped the frame, 25-15. Duke committed nine attack errors during the game, which allowed NC State to build an eight-point lead, 20-12. The Blue Devils got as close as six before NC State closed out the set on a 4-0 run.

Duke limited its errors in the third set, but was unable to slow NC State. The Wolfpack knocked down 18 kills in the frame, taking the game 25-21 to stake a 2-1 advantage overall. The Blue Devils cut the Wolfpack lead to one, 22-21, on an Alyse Whitaker kill, but NC State put down back-to-back kills to regain momentum.

A back-and-forth battle ensued in the fourth set, which saw the two teams tied at 20-all following an NC State service error. Duke was ultimately unable to swing the momentum in its favor as NC State finished the match on a 5-1 run.

NC State outside Nikki Glass finished with 11 kills, while middles Meredith Richardson and Brie Merriwether added 11 and 10 kills, respectively. NC State’s quartet of Hopper, Glass, Richardson and Merriwether amassed 50 kills and combined to hit .392.

Box score

– News release

Area high school football games, predictions for Week 8

highschoolhelmetgibbonsCan you believe it’s already week 8 of the high school football season? Several old rivals play each other tonight – Friday, Oct. 11 – including Millbrook at Broughton and Wake Forest at Wakefield. In fact, the 99.9 radio game of the week is Wake Forest at Wakefield, which should be a competitive game.

Most games start at 7:30 pm with a few beginning at 7. Try to make a point to get out there and support high school athletics before the season is over. There are more local games (local teams playing at home) this week than any other this season.

For the first Friday this season, the weather truly feels like football weather as temperatures tonight will be around 62 degrees with a 20 percent chance of rain. My record in picking games last week was a so-so 8-4 for a season record of 50-21. Below, the predicted winners for this week are in bold.

Local games
Athens Drive at Apex
Cary at Holly Springs
Cedar Ridge at Orange
East Wake at Southeast Raleigh
Enloe at Heritage
Garner at Clayton
Jordan at Hillside
Middle Creek at Panther Creek
Millbrook at Broughton
Northern Vance at Chapel Hill
Person at Northern Durham
Ravenscroft at Wake Christian
Riverside at East Chapel Hill
Sanderson at Leesville Road
Southern Durham at Cardinal Gibbons
Wake Forest at Wakefield

Charlotte Checkers to play two games in Raleigh; tickets on sale

charlottecheckersTickets for the Carolina Hurricanes’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Charlotte Checkers’ two games in Raleigh are on sale at the PNC Arena Box Office and via Ticketmaster. The games will be held on Friday, Feb. 14, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 16, at 1:30 p.m., and both games will see the Checkers playing the Abbotsford Heat, the AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames.

Prior to the public on sale, there will be a special presale for Hurricanes and Checkers season-ticket holders on Oct. 16. Hurricanes season-ticket holders can purchase tickets for the two Checkers games at the PNC Arena Box Office with their season-ticket holder identification cards, or via Caniac Account Manager at www.CarolinaHurricanes.com. Checkers season-ticket holders should contact their ticket representatives to take advantage of the presale.

Additionally, there will be a “Skate with the Checkers” event following the Sunday, Feb. 16, game. Admission is $40 and includes rental skates, with 100 percent of proceeds benefiting the Charlotte Checkers Charitable Foundation. The event will be limited to the first 200 participants and there are a select number of skates in each size. To book, please visit www.bearsdenonline.com.

The Checkers’ two games at PNC Arena this season will mark the second and third AHL games to take place in Raleigh. Charlotte hosted the Norfolk Admirals at PNC Arena on Jan. 6, 2013, marking the first time an AHL game took place in North Carolina’s capital city.

The Carolina Hurricanes will take on the Washington Capitals on Thursday at the Verizon Center (7 p.m., SportSouth, Hurricanes Radio Network) before returning home to host the Los Angeles Kings on Friday at PNC Arena in the first game of a three-game home stand. Individual game tickets for all Carolina Hurricanes regular-season games are on sale at the PNC Arena Box Office and via Ticketmaster. For information on 2013-14 Hurricanes ticket packages, please visit www.CarolinaHurricanes.com, or call 1-866-NHL-CANES.

– News release

Area college football notes: UNC to wear all black, State’s ’73 team reunites

carolinafootballhelmetblackNorth Carolina will wear the all-black uniforms against Miami in game billed as “Zero Dark Thursday.” The all-black uniform is the first installment of the “Tar Pit Series,” which will feature an alternate uniform or helmet for one game each year. This year’s alternate uniform color has been taken from the black tar in the Tar Heel logo.
—Kevin Best, North Carolina Media Relations

The 1973 NC State football team will reunite and be honored during Saturday’s game versus Syracuse. Many of the names that populate the Wolfpack record books were on the ‘73 roster, including 2013 ACC Legends Dave and Don Buckey, who led the squad in passing and receiving respectively. But head coach Lou Holtz’s main weapon on that ACC Championship squad was the quadruple threat of running backs Willie Burden, Stan Fritts, Roland Hooks and Charley Young – otherwise known as “The Stallions,” who combined for 2,594 yards and 29 rushing touchdowns. Burden led the way and was named the ACC Player of the Year for his efforts. The squad finished with a 6-0 mark in ACC play and
finished 9-3 overall, including a 31-18 victory over No. 19 Kansas in the Liberty Bowl. Paving the way for those backs were All-ACC offensive linemen Bill Yoest and Rich Druschel, who were both drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1974 draft. On defense, Mike Devine pulled in seven interceptions, a mark that ranked second in school history until 2011. Ralph Stringer averaged 25.5 yards on kickoff return duty as a freshman in ’73, and went on to hold the school record for return yardage for almost 30 years.
—Annabelle Myers, NC State Sports Information

Duke is averaging 193.0 rushing yards per game and 4.8 yards per rush in 2013, numbers that rank among the top
six in the ACC. The 193.0 rushing yards per game would be Duke’s most since the Blue Devils rushed for 198.6
yards in 1977. Duke has rushed for at least 130 yards in every game, including a pair of 200-yard efforts. Dating
back to the 2012 regular season finale against Miami, Duke has rushed for at least 130 yards in seven consecutive
games. Duke ran for a Cutcliffe-Era best 257 yards on 5.2 yards per rush against Memphis in week two. Despite a
running back group that features four backs averaging 4.3 yards per rush or better, Duke QB Brandon Connette (Corona, Calif.) leads the team with 61 rushing attempts and six rushing touchdowns.
—Art Chase, Duke Sports Information

UNC, Duke to host NCAA women’s basketball tourney games

womenstourneyFour Atlantic Coast Conference institutions have been selected as host sites for the 2014 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship. Duke, Maryland and North Carolina have been chosen to host first-and second-round games, while Notre Dame has been selected to host regional round games. The sites were announced Wednesday by the NCAA.

First-round action at College Park, Md., Durham, N.C., and Chapel Hill, N.C., will take place on either Saturday, March 22 and Monday, March 24 or Sunday, March 23 and Tuesday, March 25.

Cameron Indoor Stadium will serve as the site for the first and second rounds in Durham. It is the second straight year and fourth time in the last five years Duke has hosted first-and second-round action. Carmichael Arena will serve as the first-and second-round game site in Chapel Hill, N.C., and Comcast Arena is home to the first and second round games in College Park, Md. Maryland has hosted first and second round games each of the last three seasons, while North Carolina will host an NCAA Tournament game for the 14th time in late March.

Regional round games at Notre Dame will be played at the Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center on either Saturday, March 29 and Monday, March 31 or Sunday, March 30 and Tuesday, April 1. It will mark the second time in Notre Dame program history that it has been chosen to host regional competition in the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship. Notre Dame has hosted NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship action eight times, including three of the last five seasons, and last hosted an NCAA Championship Regional in 1983.

Exact dates and ticket availability for the first and second, and regional round games will be released at a later date.

NC State earns two swimming & diving weekly awards

Kristin Connors.
Kristin Connors.
The NC State Swimming & Diving program earned two Atlantic Coast Conference weekly awards following a strong showing at this past weekend’s All-North Carolina Invite held in Greensboro, as Grant Saale earned Male Diver of the Week and Kristin Connors earned Female Swimmer of the Week. Also earning ACC weekly honors was Duke’s Hunter Knight, as he garnered Male Swimmer of the Week.

Saale had a strong debut over the weekend, earning a first-place finish on the one-meter springboard competition with a total of 287.25. The freshman from Dublin, Ohio, was more than 70 points better than the event’s second-place finisher, who totaled a score of 217.00.

Connors, a sophomore from Apex, N.C., enjoyed a highly successful weekend at the second annual All-North Carolina Invitational. Connors captured wins in three events and posted a third-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay team.

An All-ACC performer in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke last year, Knight broke his own All-North Carolina Invitational record of 56.92 in the 100 breaststroke on Saturday. In addition, the Richmond, Va., native earned a second-place finish in the 200 breaststroke and a third in the 200 medley relay.

– News release

Wake baseball coach to speak at Raleigh Sports Club luncheon

Tom Walter.
Tom Walter.
Wake Forest University head baseball coach Tom Walter will be the guest speaker at the Raleigh Sports Club luncheon on Wednesday, Oct. 9. Guests are invited to attend. We want guests to experience the fun and fellowship of the RSC.

More impressive than any on-the-field accomplishments, Coach Walter selflessly donated a kidney to outfielder Kevin Jordan just days before the 2011 season opener. Jordan was diagnosed with a serious kidney disease and needed a transplant. Without hesitation, Walter gave Jordan one of his own, and in turn, gave Jordan an opportunity at a new life.

The RSC will honor a Wake County Student Athlete of the Week.

The Forks Cafeteria caters a delicious Southern Buffet. Buffet lines open early this week at 11:30 am. The meeting starts at 12 noon and generally concludes by 1 p.m. Meeting location is Highland UMC (Bradley Hall) at 1901 Ridge Road at the intersection of Lake Boone Trail, just inside the Raleigh Beltline.

Annual Dues for the 2013 – 2014 season are $60. Members’ weekly attendance fee is $15 while guest fees for members of the public are $25.

ACC football dominated by out of state teams

accfootballlogoThe Atlantic Coast Conference is dominated by teams outside of North Carolina. For the first time in its 61-year history, the ACC has three football teams with 5-0 records in No. 3 Clemson, No. 6 Florida State and No. 13 Miami.

The ACC has four teams nationally-ranked this week as Virginia Tech makes its first appearance in the national polls this season, ranked 24th in AP, 25th in the USA Today Coaches poll. The Hokies have now made at least one appearance
in the Coaches poll in every year since 1993.

Florida State was named the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week after its 63-0 trouncing of previously 25th-ranked Maryland.

Races for Division titles and a berth in the Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game in Charlotte on Dec. 7 are beginning to take shape. In the Atlantic, Clemson and Florida State are both 3-0 and in the lead for the division title with Boston College, Maryland and Syracuse with one loss each. In the Coastal, Virginia Tech has gotten off to a 2-0
league start and sits in the lead just ahead of Miami (1-0) and Pitt (2-1).

The combined conference record for Duke, State, UNC and Wake Forest is 1-8. That one win was Saturday’s Wake victory over NC State.