In its first ACC match of the year, the volleyball team (3-7) will play against North Carolina Friday at 7 p.m. at Reynolds Coliseum.
After going 0-3 in the Holiday Inn Brownstone Volleyball Challenge last weekend, senior defensive specialist, Andi Bentley, said the team has been working hard to prepare for the game.
“We’re basically just trying to slow things down, because we have a lot to work on for this weekend,” Bentley said. “We’re just trying to work on the technical things and all the small things handled, so we can work on bigger things.”
As for preparing to play Carolina, sophomore middle blocker, Janay Yancey, said the team has been more focused on itself, making sure N.C. State is ready to play, than focused on the opponent.
“I’m pretty sure that our coach is going to let us know [Thursday],” Yancey said. “We’re going to do more detailed type things toward UNC.”
As most of the upperclassmen experienced the rivalry first-hand, freshman outside hitter, Megan Rehmer, said her older teammates, mainly the seniors, have been talking to the younger players about the game.
“They were just telling us how we needed to play really hard Friday,” Rehmer said. “Also, whenever we are moving slow at practice and not doing the best that we can, the coach will point out that this could be the biggest game of the year for us, and we need to play hard, especially for our seniors.”
Despite the Pack’s losing record and the youth of Carolina’s team, coach Charita Stubbs said once the match starts, all of that will be thrown out the window. Stubbs talked to her team, especially her freshmen, specifically about the UNC-CH match.
“We actually do spend a lot of time talking about the competitiveness of this match,” Stubbs said. “The value that goes behind it. This is one match that we never want to downplay, because we firmly believe that it doesn’t matter which team is the better team on record. Because of the rivalry, the best team is going to win that night. It has nothing to do with who has the best record.”
For Bentley, Friday’s match will be her final match against the Tar Heels at Reynolds. For her, she said she felt beating the girls in Carolina blue would truly mean something.
“Wow,” Bentley said. “That would be amazing. I would just love to win. Anywhere, anytime would be great for me.”
