Attack errors, service errors and recept errors, N.C. State committed them all. All together the Wolfpack committed 41 errors compared to just 25 for Duke. Of the 60 points the Blue Devils scored in their three-game sweep, 41 of them came from Wolfpack miscues.
Coach Charita Stubbs said after the game, errors have been a problem for the entire team all year.
“Our outside hitters struggle with picking those correct attack angles all the time,” Stubbs said. “But when the passing breaks down, it puts more pressure on them so they think they have to be perfect in those situations versus just keeping the ball in play.”
Stubbs added, though, the primary problem with the team didn’t have anything to do with the play on the court, but rather the constant mental battle the team has with its past.
“It’s just getting over the demon we have,” Stubbs said. “I don’t know if we’ve ever beat [Duke] or maybe twice in the programs history, but I’m sure it went far back. But it’s just getting over that whole mind set. It’s like can we play with them? They’re the No. 1 team in the league, arguably.”
Junior Kasey Rhyne said getting over the psychological hurdles continues to be a challenge for the team.
“It’s hard coming back with such a young team and hearing about all the year’s past,” Rhyne said. “It’s a huge obstacle we have to overcome, and it’s gonna take not just one person but the entire team.”
With the loss State dropped to 2-11 on the year and 0-4 in ACC play. But even as the errors continue to happen and the losses pile up, Stubbs, who is just 13 games into her coaching tenure for the Pack, said she can see improvement, excluding this game.
“Today I would say [there was] no [improvement],” Stubbs said. “There was nothing good about tonight’s game. But I have seen our team get better. We’ve fought very well. I wish everyone could’ve seen our Virginia match. We fought and battled that entire match and we were close. But you’re gonna win some and you’re gonna lose some. But I still believe in this team and we know that we’re gonna turn things around.”
Rhyne said, despite the lack of success the morale of the team remains high.
“Everybody’s really close on and off the court,” Rhyne said. “We know we can win and we know how. We can’t have one person each day stepping down and not showing up. We all have to show up at the same time.”
One improvement easily noticeable and not related to the scoreboard was the atmosphere. The band played between games and during timeouts, the cheerleaders led the Wolfpack club in chants and the noise from the 1,027 fans in Reynolds Coliseum was constant.
It didn’t quite feel like a basketball game, but it certainly didn’t have the feel of a blowout loss to a conference rival either.
Senior Melissa Rabe compared the enthusiasm in the building to matches in years past.
“This is one of the greatest crowds we’ve ever had,” Rabe said. “So it’s real exciting to see at the beginning of the season.”
And despite the match being one-sided in Duke’s favor, the crowd stayed in the game until the final point.
Rhyne, a first year transfer from Brevard College said the team fed off the crowd even when the outcome of the match was no longer in doubt.
“They were so into it,” Rhyne said. “Even when we were down 10 points à every good play we would make they were with us the whole game. We were struggling in most of the games and they were really behind us the whole time.”
