The NC State volleyball team will host the Clemson Tigers Friday, March 19 and the Boston College Eagles, Sunday, March 21 in Reynolds Coliseum in what will be the team’s final home matches of the 2020-21 season.
The Wolfpack (6-7, 5-7 ACC) is coming off a road trip to Winston-Salem where it was swept 3-0 by Pitt, then beat Wake Forest 3-1. The Pack comes into the upcoming weekend 10th out of 15 teams in the ACC standings.
Clemson (10-7, 4-6 ACC), March 19 at 7 p.m.
The first match of the weekend will be against the Tigers, who are coming off a close 3-2 loss to Syracuse but before that won three in a row, including a 3-2 win over North Carolina. The Tigers have played the most number of matches by a team in the ACC this season, including 10 conference matches and seven nonconference matches.
Leading the Tigers in kills this season is Camryn Hannah, who is fourth in the conference in total kills and is top-10 in points. Other players to keep an eye on are Mckenna Slavik, who is sixth in the conference in assists per set, and Cate Long, who is second in the conference in service aces per set.
Boston College (1-9, 0-9 ACC), March 21 at 1 p.m.
The Eagles enter the weekend winless in ACC play, with their only win of the season coming against nonconference opponent Northeastern. They have only played one match in the last month after having multiple matches postponed or canceled. Their last match was a 3-0 sweep at the hands of Georgia Tech Friday, March 12.
Leading the Eagles in points and kills is Clare Naughton. Another player to watch out for is Anna Murphy, who is top-10 in the ACC in digs per set.
While the Eagles’ record doesn’t look good, all of their losses have been to teams that are currently .500 or above in conference play, and they have yet to play against a team with a losing conference record like NC State.
These two matches could be the final home matches for redshirt senior middle blocker Mmachi Nwoke and senior opposite hitter Melissa Evans. Nwoke played her first college season at Arizona State and her next two at Kansas before transferring to NC State for her senior season. She has appeared in six matches this season and is currently second on the team in blocks per set.
Evans has had a fantastic career at NC State and will go down as one of the best NC State volleyball players of all time. She has been named to an All-ACC team each of her first three years, is one of just four players in school history with over 1,000 career kills and leads the team in both points and kills this season.
Due to the NCAA granting seniors who play this season an extra year of eligibility, both Nwoke and Evans may come back to play for another season.
Both matches will be broadcasted on ACC Network Extra.
