Peppers Earns 3rd National Honor

Peppers led the ACC with 15 sacks and set a single-season school record with 24 tackles for loss.

The All-America honor is the third for Peppers, who also was named a

first-team All-American by CollegeFootballNews.com and a second-team All-American by Football News.

Peppers started every game this season for the Tar Heels and finished with 64 tackles.

His 15 sacks were one shy of Lawrence Taylor's school-record of 16 set in 1980. Peppers was named ACC defensive lineman of the week twice after stellar performances against Wake Forest and Virginia.

Peppers scored two touchdowns this year. He had a 12-yard fumble return at Wake Forest and a 27-yard interception return against Duke. In UNC's 59-21 season-ending win against the Blue Devils on Nov. 18, Peppers also had two sacks and forced one fumble.

Tar Heels Named All-Southeast Region

Three members of the North Carolina women's soccer team were named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-Southeast Region First Team.

UNC, which finished 21-3 and won its 17th national championship by beating UCLA 2-1 on Sunday, placed senior forward Meredith Florance, junior midfielder Jena Kluegel and junior defender Danielle Borgman on the first team.

Florance ranked third in the NCAA in scoring during the 2000 season. She led the Tar Heels in scoring with 60 points and 26 goals. Florance had eight assists on the season and scored five game-winning goals.

Kluegel ranked second in the nation in assists. She was North Carolina's assist leader with 23, and her 29 points ranked third on the UNC team this year.

Borgman was the leader of a Tar Heel defense that limited opponents to 0.70 goals per contest this season. She also played a considerable amount of time as a reserve at the forward spot. She finished the season with two goals and four assists.

The Tar Heels finished first in the final rankings by the NSCAA.

Swim Teams Move Up in Polls

The North Carolina women's and men's swimming and diving teams have moved up to No. 7 and No. 11, respectively, in the latest rankings of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America.

The Tar Heel women are 4-1 this year with its loss coming to top-ranked Georgia. The men are 3-1 and have lost to No. 14 Georgia.

Field Hockey Under-21 Honored

The 2000 U.S. women's Under-21 field hockey team, which included five North Carolina players, has been selected the Team of the Year by the U.S. Field Hockey Association.

The Under-21 team won a silver medal at the Junior Pan American Championships in Barbados last March and earned a spot in the 2001 Junior World Cup.

Tar Heels who played for the 2000 Under-21 team are forward Lizzy Duffy, midfielder Carrie Lingo, back Abby Martin, goalkeeper Amy Tran and forward Abbey Woolley.

Lingo, Martin, Tran and Woolley started every game they played in for UNC this season.

Tran had the seventh-best goal against average in the nation, allowing 1.129. She was named a first-team All-American for her efforts.