Chapel Hill volleyball advanced to Tuesday's second round of the NCHSAA 3-A playoffs with a 3-0 sweep last weekend of Union Pines. The Tigers won 25-6, 25-15, 25-15 at home.

Coach Sherry Norris was able to make full use of he bench, rotating in players like Amanda Thompson (9 assists, 4 aces), Hannah Blackburn (4 kills, 2 aces), Megan Blunden (2 aces, 2 blocks) and Maggie Evans (3 kills).

CHHS (23-5) defeated Rockingham (22-2) Tuesday in a game too late for Wednesday's print edition of the Chapel Hill News. (See above.) Chapel Hill won Tuesday night, and will host third-seeded conference rival Southern Vance (18-11).

Orange (8-19), the fourth seed of the Carolina-Six 3-A, also advanced into the second round with a 3-1 win at Gray's Creek. The Panthers won at former Mid-State rival Eastern Alamance (22-4) in Tuesday night's third round. The Panthers will face Carolina-Nine champ Cardinal Gibbons (20-1) one more time on Thursday.

Titanic win

The Chapel Hill 5-6 Titans edged Siler City 33-32 last Saturday and clinched a playoff spot in the Central Piedmont Youth Football League's post-season. Coached by UNC football alum Errol Hood, the Titans (4-1) won four straight games after an opening loss to Ramseur. They ended the regular-season tied with Bethesda for first place in the 5&6 Flag Northeast Division -- the only team outside Durham County to top any of the Northeast Division's four age groups.

Falcons draw a crowd

Coach Jonathan Beyle has helped Phillips compile another winning season in OPAC field hockey, finishing second in the conference. The Falcons' middle school team comprised 44 girls, six managers and one assistant coach along with Beyle as head coach. That's the largest team every assembled by the school, and parents attribute the team's growth to Beyle's personal philosophy of training the athlete first to be fit, second to have the skills of the game and third to win.

The team was joined at its end-of-the-year celebration by 22 UNC athletes, who came to congratulate the Falcons on their winning season and to encourage them to continue their field hockey careers. Led by Terry and Melanie Brill, UNC field hockey members mingled with the girls over refreshments served at La Residence.

Forty one of the 50 Phillips team members were able to attend the event after their last game of the season.

The unthinkable happens

For the first time this century, Carolina has lost back-to-back women's soccer games. Miami's Beverly Goebel scored an unassisted goal just past the 80 minute mark of the mark to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 women's soccer victory over second-ranked North Carolina Sunday afternoon at Cobb Stadium. The Tar Heels went 0-2 on their Florida swing last week, also losing 3-2 in double overtime at Florida State last Thursday.

Miami now has as many wins against North Carolina as any ACC school has compiled in history, as Hurricanes (8-8-1 overall) improved to 2-5 all-time against Carolina. Florida State and Duke also both have two wins against Carolina.

The three ACC losses equal the most in history for UNC in a single season and it is only the second time in history UNC has lost more than one game in ACC play in the same season. The 2000 team finished 4-3 in the ACC but did go on to win the ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament championships.

The back-to-back losses in the ACC are the first for UNC since 2000 and this marks on the second time in history UNC has lost back-to-back ACC games. UNC has never lost three games in a row.

The Tar Heels (12-3-1, 5-3-0 ACC) will try to bounce back into the win column when they face Clemson Thursday at 7 p.m. in UNC's final regular-season home game of the 2009 season.

Men win at Blacksburg

UNC senior defender Jordan Graye netted his first career goal in the 48th minute to lift No. 4 North Carolina to a 1-0 win Saturday at Virginia Tec. In addition to his game-winning strike, Graye helped anchor a UNC defense that held the Hokies to just two shots on goal and earned its seventh shutout of the season.

With the victory, the Tar Heels (10-2-2, 4-2-1 ACC) move into a first-place tie in the league standings with Wake Forest and Maryland. Additionally, Carolina locked up its best ACC mark since 2004 with its win Saturday. The Tar Heels play their conference finale at Clemson Nov. 4.

ACC gets new venue

ACC Commissioner John Swofford has announced that Philips Arena in Atlanta, Ga., will host the 2012 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament. That will be the sixth time Atlanta will serve as host for the ACC Tournament. The league's tournament was held in The Omni in 1983, 1985 and 1989, and the Georgia Dome served as the host site in 2001 and for second time, last year, in 2009.

Greensboro will be the host in 2010, 2011 and 2013-15.

Terps drop Heels

Top-ranked Maryland scored twice in the span of a minute in the first half and went on to a 4-1 field hockey win Saturday over host North Carolina. The loss was the first of the year for second-ranked UNC (15-1), which had allowed a total of four goals in the season's first 15 games and had not given up more than one goal to any opponent.

Maryland, the defending national champion, improved to 17-0 overall and finished ACC play 5-0 to earn the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament, set for Nov. 5, 6 and 8 in Charlottesville, Va. UNC claimed the No. 2 seed at 4-1 in ACC play.

Briefly ...

Randy Trumbower, a former assistant coach at Chapel Hill High School, has been appointed as the head baseball coach at CHHS, Chapel Hill athletic director Tod Morgan announced. ... Former East Chapel Hill diver Ryland Jones took third place in the men's competition as UNC down Georgia 1456-144 last weekend. UNC will next be in action when it hosts the North Carolina Aquatic Club Mile Meet at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Koury Natatorium. ... North Carolina's homecoming football game vs. Duke on Saturday, Nov. 7, has been set for 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN360.com.