One of the first things volleyball coach Bryan Bunn said when he arrived in February was that in order to get his sport back on track at N.C. State, his first priority had to be recruiting.
First, Bunn released a handful of veteran players from the team, including rising senior Lindsey Benac. Senior Ivory Sommer and junior Isis Gardner, both big contributors to last years’ squad, have also moved on.
“They had to what was right for them,” senior Alex Smith said. “Bunn wanted to do it for our program. It’s a shame that it happened, but you have to move into the right direction.”
Bunn and his two assistant coaches, Pete Hoyer and Stevie Mussie, worked during the spring and early summer to bulk up the roster, adding two juniors, two sophomores and six freshmen to the 2010 team.
Two of those transfers are redshirt sophomore Megan Cyr and junior Becah Fogle from the University of Colorado, where they played under Mussie in 2008 when she was an assistant coach.
A trio of Stubbs recruits, Jessica Groen, Anna Moore and Meredith Richardson, are still on board, as is middle blocker Brie Merriwether, an Orlando native who signed with the Wolfpack this spring.
“We basically have a brand new team,” Bunn said. “We’re building a new culture.”
Bunn said the 10 new recruits are waiting in the wings, working with the team’s conditioning coach and waiting for their chance to join the Wolfpack.
“[The coaching staff] is not allowed to work with them until Aug. 7,” Bunn said. “They’ve been working with the conditioning coach and participating in open gyms, but we’re not allowed to be there, so I don’t know what they look like right now. But there are some very talented girls in the class. We know they’ll make an immediate impact.”
When Smith walks into Reynolds Coliseum in August, she will see more new faces than old ones. She is one of only six returners from the 2009 season.
“We’re outnumbered,” Smith joked.
One wouldn’t think a former captain who finished her last season with 820 sets and sits fourth all-time in assists with 2,667 would feel out of place on her own team, but with an influx of new players and new coaches anxious to head in a different direction, Smith said she’s had to make adjustments.
“It is difficult getting so many new girls in. There’s definitely a separation,” Smith said. “When the season comes, hopefully it will get easier.”
Smith and several other returning players have stayed close to campus this summer to work on conditioning and get to know their new teammates.
Bunn has done his part to encourage team bonding.
“We have ‘little sisters,'” Smith said. “When they come to campus we have to show them around or answer any questions they may have.”
Team practices begin Aug. 7 and the Pack will see its first play 20 days later at the Western Carolina Tournament. State will host its own tournament in Raleigh Sept. 10 through 11.
With a new coaching staff and a blended team, Smith says the Pack has a lot to prove early on this fall. However, she said she trusts Bunn’s vision just as much now as she did while interviewing him prior to his hiring.
“[Bunn] wants not only to get wins – there’s more to it,” Smith said. “We have to change how our own school and our own athletic administration view us. We have to change how we carry ourselves, how people see us and our reputation as well. He has a good plan for making that happen.”
