The NC State volleyball team secured its first win of the season on Friday, Sept. 3, taking down the Wofford Terriers 3-0. Prior to the start of the match, the Pack still had cause for celebration as head coach Luka Slabe was gifted an American flag from Athletics Director Boo Corrigan as recognition for his stint at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this past summer, where he won gold as an assistant coach for USA women’s volleyball.
Once the match itself began, the Pack (1-3) hit the ground running in the first set and didn’t look back, staying a step ahead of the Terriers (2-3) all the way to the final point. This success was thanks to the polished, intense attacks that NC State exhibited from the first serve onward.
“I definitely think that we made the changes that we needed to make over the past weekend,” said junior setter Kristen McDaniel. “I think we really dialed in on that and stayed consistent today.”
Those improvements were magnified on the court as McDaniel managed to amass 35 assists, spreading out the Pack’s attack to every inch of the court and consistently putting up polished sets for her teammates to spike past the Terriers.
“I thought [my performance] was a lot better than last week,” McDaniel said. “I just needed to make sure I stayed very clean and got my feet to the ball, and make sure I delivered hittable balls to all my hitters.”
After handily securing the first set 25-17, one weakness in the Wolfpack’s dominance began to show in the form of service errors. NC State committed four such errors in the first set, allowing Wofford to pull within one point at 11-10, but the serving problem really started to unravel in the second set. The Pack handed seven points to the Terriers by way of service errors, allowing Wofford to stay in striking distance until State officially clinched the set, 25-20.
“We’ve been talking a lot this week about service routine and service pressure,” said associate head coach Megan Wargo-Kearney. “I’m not sure how mindful we were from the service line at times. That’s something, for sure, we’re gonna have to work to clean up for tomorrow.”
The Wolfpack shut down its serving woes in the third set, as junior defensive specialist Hannah Wander engineered back-to-back aces to give NC State an early 5-1 lead. The Terriers refused to go down quietly, however, mustering a last-ditch effort to try and extend the match by winning the third set. State eventually quelled this rebellion though, completing the sweep by winning the final set, 25-12. The win was a boost to the Pack’s morale.
“The thing we’ve challenged our girls to do this week is compete,” Wargo-Kearney said. “I feel like they came out and did that from the start.”
The Wolfpack continues its weekend homestand on Saturday, Sept. 4 in a doubleheader against the East Carolina Pirates and the Colorado State Rams. The games will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra at 12 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.
