The NC State volleyball team officially kicked off the season Friday night, as the Wolfpack opened Reynolds Coliseum to the public for an intrasquad scrimmage.
The exhibition match featured the Wolfpack women competing against each other for four sets. After each set, new lineups were created, giving each of the team members an opportunity to play with various members of their team.
However, in a game meant to highlight the skills of the club, the unusually high number of mistakes became the focal point of the evening.
“Way too many errors,” Wolfpack head coach Bryan Bunn said. “I think we had 18 percent service errors, 20 percent attack errors. We have got to improve on ball control.”
Of the 177 total points scored during the four-set match, 94 of those came off of errors. The two sides combined for a disappointing .099 kill percentage. The team recorded negative kill percentages in two sets and failed to break .300 in any set.
Service was also a major problem for the club. Though the Pack combined to score nine aces, the team failed to convert on 27 serves. Sophomore defensive specialist Rachel Eppley said she thought the high number of errors were due to the number of new players on the floor.
“I definitely think it was nerves,” Eppley said. “We have seven new people, so there were a lot of nerves out there. But that’s the reason we have this game, to make mistakes.”
Over the offseason, Bunn brought seven new faces to the Wolfpack roster. Though the new players have been practicing with the veterans of the team since July, Friday was the first time they had performed in front of fans at Reynolds Coliseum. Junior setter Tanna Aljoe said the errors in the game were not a representation of the progress the team had made over the summer.
“We’ve been working really hard since we got together in June,” Aljoe said. “We’ve been playing well in practice, but tonight a little bit of the nerves came in for everybody. We performed at times, and other times we didn’t, but that was a growing experience right there.”
Despite this being the first time the freshmen have seen action on a collegiate stage, a couple of the first-year players made a name for themselves in the intrasquad contest.
Freshman outside hitter Julia Brown recorded nine kills on 20 touches, despite having to share the ball with star outside hitters such as seniors Dariyan Hopper and Rachel Buckley. Brown said that through the months of practice with the team, Brown felt completely at ease on the floor with the older players.
“We’ve been working hard all summer,” Brown said. “Just throughout practices, getting to know the girls and getting to know how they play together, it gives us a little more confidence and experience.”
With the loss of former starting middleback Brie Merriwether, three new additions to the team were competing for a potential spot as the No. 2 middleback behind senior Alesha Wilson.
Junior transfer T’Asia Black recorded no attacking errors while blocking five shots, while freshman Erica Narel impressed with a .357 kill percentage and three blocks. However, Bunn said there was no clear frontrunner for the position.
“[Freshman middle blocker] Kaitlyn [Kearney] has been practicing well, but didn’t play that well,” Bunn said. “Erica has done a couple nice things on the right side, so she might be someone we train on the right side.”
The Pack will begin its first preseason tournament this Friday when the team travels to Wilmington to take on Eastern Washington.
