Feb. 9, 2002

DURHAM, N.C. - North Carolina's men's and women's fencing teams split matches with Duke this weekend at Card Gymnasium in Durham but the results were slightly good enough to earn UNC a point in the 2001-02 Carlyle Cup competition.

On Friday the Duke men's fencing team edged the Tar Heels 15-12. On Saturday the UNC women returned the favor by beating the Blue Devils 16-11.

Carolina's combined total of 28 points edged out Duke's total of 26 and earned the Carlyle Cup point for the UNC total. UNC Fencing coach Ron Miller stated that the match with the Blue Devils " showed a tremendous desire to win from our team and that is exactly what we needed. It was a close meet and we knew Duke would show a lot of emotion especially at home in Card gymnasium and when it came down to push and shove our top fencers did the job. I was pleased."

The point lifts Carolina's lead in the standings to 18-4. The Carlyle Cup goes to the school that does the best in head-to-head meetings between the two schools in all the sports the schools sponsor in common. Scholarships sports for both schools count for three points and where either school has a non-scholarship program one point is awarded per sport. A total of 48 points are at stake with 24.5 points a clinching total.

Duke won the initial Carlyle Cup in 2000-01 by a 27-21 score.

The next points for this school year will be decided later this month when Duke visits Carolina for women's basketball action. That will be worth 1.5 points in the standings.