The NC State volleyball team began the 2015 season with swift wins against North Carolina Central University, Southeastern Louisiana and the University of South Carolina at the South Carolina Tournament in Columbia this past weekend.
This will be the fourth time in head coach Bryan Bunn’s six years that the Wolfpack has started the season with success.
“It’s good to be 3-0,” Bunn said. “We had a good match tonight against a tough opponent on their home court. It was a really nice environment; they had about 1,500 people there. It was really nice to go in there and play well this weekend.”
NC State took an early lead in the first match of the weekend against NC Central, never letting the Eagles get within six points after the first set. Freshman defensive specialist Kassie Kasper stopped NC Central in its tracks when she served five points in a row to end the Eagles’ early second set lead and turned the favor back to the Wolfpack. It was clear at the start of the third set that the Pack was determined to win as it took a quick 10-point lead.
“We served the ball really tough and got some of the first game jitters out,” Bunn said. “NC Central did a nice job defensively, so it challenged our hitters.”
Saturday morning’s match against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions was the first meeting of the two teams in history.
The first set was a battle in which the Lions took an early lead, forcing the Wolfpack to call a timeout. NC State then rallied to tie the score and eventually win the first set 25-17. The Wolfpack came into the second set fired up and made Southeastern Louisiana fight to keep the score in close range. Shortly after a Lions’ timeout, the second set was taken by the Wolfpack thanks to sophomore outside hitter Perry Ramsey’s kill. NC State won the third set without a problem.
When asked about the early troubles with the Lions, Bunn pointed to the toughness of the schedule.
“It was a match at 10 in the morning on a Saturday, and Southeastern started the match playing really well,” Bunn said.
The final match of the weekend took place Saturday night against the South Carolina Gamecocks.
NC State and South Carolina fought for the first couple of points until the Pack took a 10-4 lead. It was short-lived as the Gamecocks quickly negated every Wolfpack advancement on the scoreboard. The end of the first set was a nail-biter, as it went to 27-25 in favor of NC State.
“Winning that first set was huge because it gave us a lot of momentum,” Bunn said. “We served really tough and got them out of system a lot more in the second and third sets, forcing them to make more errors.”
In the second set, it was looking like more of the same as the scoreboard went back and forth until the Wolfpack broke away with a 17-11 lead, forcing the Gamecocks to call a timeout. The Pack came back explosively after the timeout and kept South Carolina at bay to win the set 25-16.
The third set was a struggle for domination but NC State quickly tied it at 11. Before a media timeout, the Wolfpack took a 15-11 lead. NC State was able to stay ahead of South Carolina by an average of six points before South Carolina took a timeout with the score 19-13 in favor of the Wolfpack. NC State remained on top, winning the set 25-14.
Sophomore outside hitter Julia Brown was named MVP for the weekend tournament.
“She played really well this weekend,” Bunn said. “She got off to a slow start against NCCU, but she played fantastic [against Southeastern] and followed that up with another strong performance [against South Carolina].”
Brown was well supported by her teammates on the court. Senior middle blocker Morgan Cormier contributed 11 kills and 10 digs overall in the match. Junior setter Maggie Speaks had 33 assists and sophomore defensive specialist Emily Harris had three aces.
“We have a new identity with a lot of new players,” Bunn said. “It’s good to get some wins under your belt. At times we had two freshmen, three sophomores on the floor, so it’s nice to build some confidence.”
The Wolfpack returns to Raleigh for Labor Day weekend in the Hilton Garden Inn Cary Classic.
