Fall seven times, stand up eight. A four-game losing streak was motivation for the Wolfpack to take care of business at home, and it did, squashing California 3-1.
“We’ve been playing these top-10 opponents,” said head coach Megan Wargo-Kearney. “But can we come out and play good Wolfpack volleyball?”
NC State’s three-game stretch against top-10 teams — in which it managed to win just one set — is over, and the team took advantage of its weaker competition. A relative off day for senior outside hitter Courtney Bryant was covered up by a career-high 22 kills from freshman outside hitter Rebecca Ring, and the Wolfpack (11-11, 4-8 ACC) didn’t stop rolling on offense after the Golden Bears (6-16, 3-9 ACC) took a close opening set.
“After the first set, we knew that we just needed to play our game on our side of the net,” Ring said. “We knew that we could do that, and we came out in the next three sets.”
The Pack wasn’t perfect, though, as 17 errors and plenty of missed opportunities gave Wargo-Kearney lots to be unhappy about.
“I was pretty fired up after Set 1,” Wargo-Kearney said.
So fired up in fact, that the NC State bench was issued a yellow card after a challenge didn’t go the team’s way in the second set.
“[The referee] was pretty quick to give me that,” Wargo-Kearney said. “But it was okay, I was also hoping to motivate the team a little bit.”
The gambit worked, and a “Kill, No. 27, Rebecca Ring” from the announcer signaled the end of the set, a 28-26 win in extra points.
“She was really good all day. We set her a pretty nice tempo,” Wargo-Kearney said. “We made an adjustment in sets three and four to have her go across the front row first to get her around a little bit more.”
The usual cheers for the freshman were supplemented by chants from The World’s Most Dangerous Marching Band, which sat at one end of the court.
“We love the band,” said Ring. “We love the energy they bring, it’s just such a great environment when they’re here.”
A marching band rendition of Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf” filled the building during the first timeout of the final set, and the crowd loved it. Every timeout and intermission was full of the band’s usual numbers, which kept the energy up in moments that are typically quiet.
“I love when they’re here. I wish they’d come to every game,” Wargo-Kearney said.
Ring checked back into the final set just in time to move the Pack to match point with a powerful cross-court shot and sent the Golden Bears packing with a block on the next play.
“I was just excited to get back in there and get some energy going,” Ring said. “They were starting to go on a little run and I just wanted to shut it down.”
The Wolfpack plays next in the “Red Out” game at 7 p.m. in Reynolds on Friday, Nov. 7, against Louisville, which is currently third in the ACC. One thing is for sure: The team would love it if a brass, woodwind and percussion section made the trip.
