A year ago this weekend, the volleyball team won 3-1 at Boston College. Since that victory, the team’s only ACC win last season, N.C. State has not won another conference match.

With a different coach and nine new players this season, the Wolfpack will take on the Eagles again — tonight at 7 p.m. But first-year coach Charita Stubbs said last year’s win won’t mean much when the two teams take the court this year.

“It is nice to know that we are going to play someone that we have beaten in the past, now that you mention it. But it’s not like I sat back and said, ‘OK, this is the one team they beat last year, so I expect us to win this year,'” Stubbs said. “The team is completely different.”

That doesn’t mean she isn’t optimistic heading in to this weekend, when her team will also host Maryland on Saturday at 6 p.m. She said her team has been making needed improvements as the season has progressed.

“We’ve gotten better with each match that we played, with the exception of the Florida State match. Other than that, we’ve gotten better,” Stubbs said. “And we’re making the strides, so that’s pretty exciting right there.”

At the same time, Stubbs said her team must play well throughout matches to come out with a victory.

“We’re really inconsistent in the sense that we’re a young team and [not] being able to sustain our mindset for a long period of time,” Stubbs said. “And we’ve addressed that in practice, as well, and we’ve done some things to kind of get their minds so they’re sharper for a longer period of time.”

The team has lost 21 straight ACC matches, something Stubbs said she thinks about as the coach but doesn’t often bring up to her players. She said they know they’re struggling, but she tries to form an optimistic atmosphere at practice.

“Every day is a new day for our kids. We try hard to just stay positive and upbeat and keep it a learning environment versus an environment where they’re going to feel intimidated, where every move they make is the wrong move,” Stubbs said.