In its first match in 10 days, NC State volleyball secured a 3-1 win over Liberty on Wednesday at Reynolds Coliseum. After taking the first two sets, NC State dropped the third but rallied back to take the fourth to win its regular season home opener.
The Wolfpack (2-2) fought hard, almost winning three straight sets, but came up just short of the sweep in the third set, losing 26-24. With the third set consisting of no more than a three-point gap at any given time, it came down to an attack error made by NC State.
It wasn’t the smoothest nor the prettiest win for the Pack. Seventeen service errors from the red-and-white and 18 from Liberty disrupted the flow between highly contested points. Still fresh off of preseason, head coach Luka Slabe identified the team’s serve as one of the team’s weak spots and has got his squad working effortlessly to get it where it needs to be.
“We missed maybe a little bit too much, but come on, when we’re asking to push we can’t count errors right now,” Slabe said. “I like that we settled down with our services throughout the set and throughout the match.”
Practice doesn’t make perfect but it’s the relentless persistence of it that gets teams close, and in sports, it’s a lot of what players do in practice that determines whether they’re in the win or the loss column.
“In this past week of practice, we’ve had the radar guns out, we’ve had elastics on the antennas to make sure we serve it under and we’re playing all kinds of serving games to make sure that our serving is as competitive as it can be,” said senior opposite hitter Amanda Rice.
Rice was dominant in the frontcourt, finishing with 13 kills on 31 attacks. From the start of the season, Rice has been killing it at the net — literally. Since the first preseason game, the senior hasn’t gone a match without reaching double figures in kills, relishing every opportunity she gets.
“I might be a little biased being an attacker, but killing the ball is the best part,” Rice said. “It’s the most rewarding and feels great every time.”
Junior outside hitters Courtney Bryant and Ava Brizard also eclipsed the double-digit mark with 10 and 12 kills, respectively. The trio of Rice, Bryant and Brizard accounted for over 60% of the team’s total throughout the match.
Although the final scoreline may have not indicated how close a majority of the points and sets were, Liberty’s grit didn’t go unnoticed.
“[Liberty] was playing a really, really good block defense and they were very resilient,” Slabe said. “They didn’t let us get away with anything, so they made it really hard for us tonight.”
Each team was digging like their lives depended on it, combing for over 110 throughout the match. No dig was as impressive as graduate defensive specialist Skye Stokes’ save about eight feet beyond the baseline.
The team, still happy with its perseverance and win, has much to work on in the following weeks. With many distractions on and off the court it can be difficult to stay focused on the game in front of it but that is what it takes to be a winning team.
“Make sure you’re focused on your team, not on your surroundings,” Slabe said. “So that was the message: to stay dialed in. It’s [still] early in the season, we’re never happy and that’s our problem. We got to get better.”
After traveling to Omaha, Nebraska, for the Bluejay Invitational, the Pack has made its quick stop back in Raleigh but will find itself on the road for a couple of matches this week. Heading to Tampa, Florida for the South Florida Invitational, NC State looks to carry its success forward with matchups against North and South Florida.
A product of conference realignment, travel for every sports team has shot through the roof. So moments spent at home court don’t go unappreciated.
“We’re going to be on the road so much this year,” Slabe said. “We’re going to be on the road more than home so every time we’re home it’s like wow we get to sleep in our beds, we get to be in Reynolds and we get to be here in front of you guys. Every day we spend here is special.”
The Wolfpack takes on North Florida on Friday, Sept. 13th at 4 p.m.
