Tracking the Tar Heels, Sept. 30

Welcome to another edition of Tracking the Tar Heels.

Let’s see what the Tar Heels have been up to:

• The North Carolina football team was unable to handle East Carolina’s high-tempo offense in a 55-31 loss to the Pirates Saturday.

• Assistant Sports Editor Grace Raynor provides a play-by-play recap of the game, after which coach Larry Fedora found it hard to find the positive things the Tar Heels did.

• Also check out this Noted and Quoted blog post from UNC’s loss to the Pirates, featuring things The Daily Tar Heel heard and saw at the game.

• Andrew Carter of the (Raleigh) News & Observer writes that the UNC football team’s expectations won’t change amid a poor 1-3 start to the season.

• The No. 1 UNC field hockey team fell to No. 9 Duke in an overtime shootout, stopped by a record-setting performance from Blue Devil goalkeeper Lauren Blazing, Assistant Sports Editor Daniel Wilco writes.

• The UNC volleyball team continued its third-set streak Friday, sweeping Notre Dame in straight sets to improve to 13-0 on the year, Brandon Chase writes.

• Wesley Lima writes that junior outside hitter Lauren Adkins provided a spark off the bench to help the Tar Heels defeat the Fighting Irish.

• The men’s soccer team claimed its fourth tie of the year with a 1-1 draw against Wake Forest Saturday after a Demon Deacon goal in the final minute of regulation sent the game into overtime, Carlos Collazo writes.

• Ben Coley writes that the men’s cross country team placed first and the women’s cross country team finished ninth at the Virginia/Panorama Farms Invitational this weekend.

• The UNC women’s tennis team’s title defense of the 2012 ITA National Championship began this weekend at the ITA All American Tennis Championships this weekend, Brandt Berry writes.

• Senior Cari Blalock shined at the North Carolina swimming team’s Blue and White intersquad scrimmage, Logan Ulrich writes.

• The UNC women’s basketball team made two changes to its 2013-2014 schedule, adding a game and moving one up a day.

• Last but not least, check out this Q&A with UNC men’s basketball team players Leslie McDonald and Brice Johnson, from GoHeels.com.