The N.C. State volleyball team took another step in its rebuilding process by winning two of its three matches over the weekend at the UNCW Hilton Garden Inn Beach Bash. First-year coach Bryan Bunn and Co. claimed victories over UNCW and Elon, but fell to Campbell.
Although the Pack won two matches to push its record to 10-2, compared to 6-6 at this time last season, junior libero Kelly Wood said the team stuck together despite its inconsistent play.
“Overall, we kind of struggled at times this weekend, but we did a good job of staying together as a team,” Wood said. “We didn’t bicker with one another. We all kept a good attitude and played for each other, which is definitely one of our goals.
“It shows a lot about our team’s character that we weren’t having our best weekend, but we stuck together as a team and pushed through it.”
State got off to a hot start in the tournament by dominating UNCW in three sets, winning 25-22, 25-17, and 25-19. Junior Luciana Schafer paced the Pack on both offense and defense, finishing the contest with nine kills and 11 digs. Sophomore Megan Cyr, a transfer from Colorado, led State in assists for the tenth time this season, finishing with 27 against the Seahawks.
The Pack stumbled in its next match against Campbell, who came into the match with a 3-10 record, losing in four sets 25-22, 22-25, 27-25, and 25-14. The loss to the Camels served as an eye-opener for the Wolfpack, according to Wood.
“It was very disappointing,” Wood said. “We were devastated to lose to Campbell because they are definitely not at our level. We needed one of those games to realize that people are going to want to beat us because we’re a big in-state school. [The Campbell] game showed us that people are going to work their butts off to beat us.”
Senior Jana Angel agreed with her teammate’s assessment of the disappointing loss and said it was a good learning experience for the young team.
“It was a good learning experience for us,” Angel said. “We let our level of play drop. We shouldn’t have lost to a team like Campbell. We need to be locked in mentally, and if we’re not, then games like that are going to happen to us. But if we come in with a purpose, we’ll be successful.”
State rebounded from the loss in the final match of the tournament, beating Elon in straight sets by scores of 26-24, 25-16, and 29-27. The victory against Elon capped off the Pack’s non-conference schedule. The team will begin conference play against rival North Carolina on Tuesday in Reynold’s Coliseum at 7 p.m. The pack will be looking to duplicate the result from last year’s meeting when it won 3-2 on Senior Day.
“Everyone’s thrilled to play North Carolina for our first game in conference,” Angel said. “We’re looking for a lot of people to come out and support us. The win against [Carolina] last year was the high note of our season and we’re trying to start that way this year.”
