Freshman outside hitter Rachel Buckley spikes a ball at Appalachian Invitational Tournament. Photo courtesy of Appalachian State.
The Pack opened its season by starting off 2-1 at the Appalachian Invitational Tournament in Boone on Friday and Saturday. State dropped its first match to the host team in a 3-1 contest but swept its next two against UNC-Charlotte and Kennesaw State.
In its opener on day one of the tournament, the Wolfpack lost the first two sets of the match with both of the scores at 19-25, took the third match at 25-23, but lost the final match 23-25. Senior Margaret Salata led the Pack in kills with 15 on the match. Senior Megan Cyr led the team in assists with 37.
According to senior Margaret Salata , the roaring Mountaineer crowd had an effect on the team, especially with the freshman, but they managed to hold their own after the first match.
“They had a large crowd so we had a lot of jitters going into the game,” Salata said. “The freshman held their own and played some great games. The team is very proud of what they’ve done this weekend.”
The Pack bounced back on day two of the event by defeating UNC-Charlotte in three straight sets of 25-22, 25-13, and another set at 25-13. Freshman Nicole Glass lead the attack during this match with 12 kills. Salata and freshman Rachel Buckley also contributed offensively with 11 and 10 kills each.
Coach Bryan Bunn sites a boost in energy as a contributing factor to turning the Pack’s fortune around between the first and second game.
“We did ok, we didn’t turn out well against App. State, but we did finish the match fine,” Bunn said. “We lost [yesterday] but we played well today. We got a lot of support. We spent a lot more energy and we were ready to step on the floor for those two games.”
Senior, Kelly Wood believes that the Pack got itself out of trouble after the first match by working towards making few mistakes.
“We reduced the number of errors,” Wood said. “We came together and picked up everything in our game. Less errors and more energy will always have a positive outcome.”
In its third match, the Pack closed out the tournament by taking three straight sets against Kennesaw State, with the matches at 25-22, 25-15 and 25-19. Wood led the match on the defensive end with 12 digs. Buckley led the match offensively with 11 kills.
Despite coming out of the tournament with a winning record, Bunn still believes that the young Pack squad still has a lot to learn in its young season.
“We need to improve our defense and blocking,” Bunn said. “Margaret Salata played really well. Kelly Wood played well and Rachel Buckley played well.”
According to Wood, she believes that the young Pack learned a lot about who they are as a team on a personal level.
“We got to see each person’s individual character and how we’ll respond,” Wood said. “We’re going to be a team that fights hard.”
The Pack will play its first home games of the 2011 season on Friday, September 2nd in a double-header against the N.C . A&T Aggies and the Wisconsin Badgers. They will continue this home stand the next day when the squad plays the Western Carolina Catamounts and the Campbell Camels.