N.C. State vs. North Carolina – usually it’s a match-up that increases the intensity no matter the records.
But this year, with the softball teams separated by just one game at the top of the ACC, the importance of this final series rises to another level.
The Tar Heels stand at 13-5 in ACC play, and the Wolfpack is 12-6. So the winner of the three-game series wins the conference — it’s as simple as that.
For junior pitcher Shaina Ervin, winning the ACC in just the third year of the team’s existence would be a tremendous accomplishment.
“Winning [the ACC championship] would be amazing,” Ervin said. “Winning it would say a lot about our program; winning it would say a lot about our school, a lot about our coach and a lot about us as players.”
In 2005, State beat the Heels three times in four games, including once in the ACC Tournament. But Ervin feels, despite the recent success, the Pack are still not getting their deserved respect.
“We constantly get overlooked,” Ervin said. “Us beating them was a fluke, and it’s been a fluke for the last two years. So maybe when we beat them again this year, it won’t be such a fluke.”
Junior Heather Gelbard echoed Ervin’s contempt for the disrespect the team has received.
“Winning this series and the conference would mean a lot to us,” Gelbard said. “Especially after all the other coaches in the league doubted us at first.”
The conference championship, the rivalry between the schools and the lack of respect are all added incentives for State to win, but there is still yet another aspect of this story that adds to the drama.
Coach Lisa Navas, who has been the coach since the conception of the team, was an assistant coach at Carolina before taking over for the Pack. While there, she helped lead the Heels to their first ACC title in 2001.
The fact that Navas coached in Chapel Hill gives the players a reason to win for the coach as well as for themselves, according to Ervin.
“They are our rivals,” Ervin said. “Our coach used to coach there. So as much as we want to win for ourselves, we want to win for [Navas] too.”
Navas downplayed the rivalry though, saying that every game means the same to her.
“I don’t think any one of these games means more than the other,” Navas said.
Navas did add that the importance of beating Carolina was articulated to her immediately when she took of the job.
“I remember my first day,” Navas said. “Coach Fowler [N.C. State Athletic Director] asked me how long it would take for me to beat Carolina.”
However, Gelbard said not staying intense, especially for a rivalry game, is dangerous.
“We try to play our game and maintain a level of intensity no matter who it is,” she said. “But if you let down, you lose games. And it is a rivalry game.”
State plays the final two games of this series tonight starting at 5:00 p.m. at Anderson Stadium in Chapel Hill to end the regular season.
