In her second season with the Wolfpack , sophomore middle blocker Brie Merriwether has become a stat sheet stuffer for the volleyball team.

Her first season saw her finish with 125 kills and 47 blocks in 81 sets, which was highest among the freshman class last year.

Since her freshman campaign, the numbers have increased dramatically. This year she ranks third for the Pack in kills at 161 and kills per set at 2.44 and second in blocks with 66 total and 1 per set. Her blocking numbers ranks 9th in the conference.

According to Merriwether and coach Bryan Bunn , she has placed emphasis on her technique during the offseason to improve her overall performance on the court.

“The coaches really worked on my arm swing,” Merriwether said. “There were a lot of small technical things that needed correction and I think that helps with my numbers and my performance. Just really focusing on technique and making it muscle memory so it just happens naturally.”

According to Bunn , a lot has changed for Merriwether in the last year.

“She has much more experience this year and worked very hard in the spring to improve her skills,” Bunn said. “She has come a very long way in the past year. She is so much more consistent and steady this year.”

Merriwether said getting used to the speed of the game has also helped her exceed her output from last season, and she is still getting used to the rapid nature of college play.

“Coming in as a freshman, it was definitely quicker and I struggled with that a lot,” Merriwether said. “I still need to work on that, but I definitely don’t feel as tense and maybe that the play is happening faster than I am.”

According to Bunn , Merriwether has put plenty of hours towards improving her game on and off the court.

“She has really grown on the court in terms of being able to see the game and be ahead of what is happening,” Bunn said. “Off the court she is coming in to watch video a ton, working extremely hard in the weight room and learning how to be a leader in the future.

“She is one of the most diligent players I’ve ever worked with.”

Merriwether has also captured a tournament Most Valuable Player honor at the Courtyard Midtown Classic. The Pack took its matches in that tournament against North Carolina A&T, Wisconsin, Western Carolina and Campbell. She finished the tournament with 37 kills for the Pack.

According to Merriwether , the accolade topped off a great weekend from the Pack and helped affirm her progress in her second season.

“It was really exciting,” Merriwether said. “That was just a great weekend for the team. I was mostly excited about the win for the team and that was just the cherry on the top. It was really exciting and it backed up my hard work.”

Despite all of this progress from an individual standpoint, Merriwether’s focus still remains on the success of the program, which in her eyes still has a long way to go. Despite the Pack matching its win total of 14 from last year at the midpoint of the season, she believes State needs to take further steps to become a winning program.

“Because our win total wasn’t super high, that doesn’t mean much,” Merriwether said. “I think the fact that we’re competing with teams means more than the win total. We still need to take it a step further and start competing and winning.”

According to Bunn , Merriwether will definitely be a staple for the rebuilding of the Pack’s program.

“Brie is a huge part of our future,” Bunn said. “While she is still learning a lot at this point, she is the type of athlete and hard worker we are looking for to build this program.”