Carlyle Cup

Hansbrough Led Carolina to A Sweep Of Duke (Photo by Bob Donnan)

Brandon Tate’s kick returns for touchdowns, Tyler Hansbrough’s 26-point, 17-rebound performance and Jenna Long’s dramatic, cup-saving rally on the tennis court highlight the accomplishments of the University of North Carolina’s Carlyle Cup Most Valuable Performances for 2006-07.

The MVP plaques are given to the student-athletes at Carolina and Duke who most excelled in the past year in the annual Carlyle Cup, the symbol of the preeminent rivalry in college athletics.

The 2006-07 Carlyle Cup ended in a 13-13 tie, the first time the competition has been deadlocked in seven years. Carolina retained possession of the cup by virtue of having won it in 2005-06.

Tate, a sophomore from Burlington, N.C., became the sixth player in NCAA history to return a kickoff and punt return for touchdowns in the same game when he accomplished that feat in Carolina’s 45-44 win over Duke last November. He had a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 17 seconds remaining in the first half and a 54-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Tate had five punt returns for 69 yards and four kickoff returns for 139 yards in the dramatic victory.

Hansbrough, a sophomore All-America from Poplar Bluff, Mo., had 26 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, nine of which came on the offensive glass, in the 86-72 win over the Blue Devils in final game of the regular-season. He also had 16 points and three rebounds in the 79-73 win at Duke, UNC’s second in a row at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Tate Ran Back Kickoff and Punt for TDs

Long, a senior from Fremont, Calif., won the NCAA doubles championship with Sara Anundsen, but it was their dramatic doubles win against Duke in the team portion of the NCAA Tournament that kept the Carlyle Cup from moving down the highway to Durham.

Long won a pair of No. 1 singles matches against Duke this year and teamed with Anundsen for an 8-1 win in the regular season doubles match. However, the Tar Heel duo trailed their 10th-ranked opponents, 1-6, love-40, in the NCAA Tournament match.

Long and Anundsen rallied to hold serve and proceeded to send the match to a tie-breaker, where they prevailed, 7-2. That clinched the doubles point for UNC and gave it the momentum to win the first set in five singles matches.

Carolina subsequently advanced past Duke, 4-1, to the Sweet 16.

A Blue Devil win would have split the women’s tennis point in half and given Duke the Carlyle Cup. However, the win in the NCAA Tournament kept the full tennis point for the Tar Heels and the Cup competition remained tied at 3-13. Long and Anundsen then went on to win six matches in the doubles competition to win the school’s first NCAA tennis title.