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NC State Volleyball Defeats Pitt, Moves into 1st

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PITTSBURGH – The NC State volleyball team put together a #STATEment performance Sunday afternoon to snap Pittsburgh’s 13-match winning streak and hand the Panthers their first Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) loss this season with a 3-1 (25-21, 15-25, 25-19, 25-18) win inside Fitzgerald Field House.

It was the Wolfpack’s first-ever win at Pitt, which is receiving votes in this week’s American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Poll, as NC State was unsuccessful in its first six tries.

With the win, the Pack takes over first place in the conference standings as both programs are 9-1 but NC State would own the tiebreaker since the teams only meet once this season.

The Wolfpack is now 14-7 on the year and 9-1 in ACC play, while Pitt moves to 16-5 and 9-1 in league play.

Worth Noting

– NC State handed Pittsburgh its first loss since Sept. 8 at Western Kentucky, a span of more than a month.

– The Panthers had won their last nine sets played with three sweeps prior to dropping the opening set to the Wolfpack.

– NCSU won the first set for 16th time this season, as the squad has only lost the first frame in five matches.

Quoting Hampton-Keith

Overall thoughts…

“I’m so impressed with our team’s performance today,” said head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. “Our ability to execute and stay in the moment was great and it allowed us to make some tactical decisions when needed because our team was just all in.

“It was another serve-receive battle today and there were times when we weren’t passing well and our options were limited and there were times where we were really good at the service line and put a lot of pressure on them.

“We preached to our team all week about process and staying mindful in our process and to let the outcomes take care of themselves. So I’m just so happy for them to get the outcome we wanted when it would have been easier to get distracted.”

Match Rewind

– NC State started slow in the match, but quickly erased a 4-0 deficit to take an 8-7 lead following a bad set by Pittsburgh.

– The teams were within a few points of each other throughout most of the frame before four unanswered points by NC State to grab a 22-20 advantage to force a Pitt timeout.

– After a point by the Panthers, the Wolfpack closed out the opening set with three consecutive points to take the frame, 25-21, and own a 1-0 lead in the overall match.

– The second set was tight early, but Pittsburgh pulled away with a 6-0 run from 10-10 to take control of the frame en route to the 25-15 victory to even the contest at one.

– NC State found its rhythm and settled into the match in the third set, as the Wolfpack recorded a .308 attacking percentage with only four errors.

– The frame was tightly contested, as there were 13 ties and five lead changes.

-With the score knotted at 16, sophomore Lauryn Terry swatted a kill from the middle to spark a 5-1 run extending the NC State lead to 21-17.

– After Pitt trimmed the advantage to 22-29, NCSU closed out the set with three unanswered points to win the set, 25-19, taking a 2-1 lead in the match.

– NC State charted the best attacking percentage for either team on the day with a .412 clip, headlined by 18 kills.

– The Wolfpack rushed out to a 6-3 lead in the fourth set before the Panthers battled back in the frame.

– Leading 10-9, NC State won 10 of the next 13 rallies to take control of the set with a 20-12 advantage to force a Pitt timeout.

– After narrowing the margin to 22-18, a block by Terry and Teni Sopitan gave the Wolfpack a 23-18 lead and back-to-back kills from Sopitan followed to close out the match.

Top Performers

– Bree Bailey led NC State offensively with 13 kills, while Julia Brown and Sopitan each tallied 11 kills.

– Kaitlyn Kearney swatted seven kills on 16 swings and did not commit an error to log a .438 attacking percentage.

– At setter, Kylie Pickrell dished out a match-high 41 assists in addition to three digs, two kills, two blocks and a service ace.

– Defensively, Brown paced the Pack with 10 digs to notch her 10th double-double of the year. Libero Emily Harris had eight digs and Terry logged a match-high six blocks.

Up Next

NC State continues its four-match road swing when it heads to Miami Friday night Oct. 27. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. inside Knight Sports Complex.

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NC State Falls Out of the Top-10 After Losses to UNC & Duke

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After losing to rivals UNC and Duke last week, the NC State Women’s Basketball team fell out of the Top-10 in the Week 17 AP Poll, landing at #12. NC State started the 2023-24 season unranked, but jumped to #14 in the first Poll after the Preseason Poll. The Wolfpack have been ranked in the Top-10 since November 20th, which equals 14 straight polls.

ACC Teams in the Top-25

5. Virginia Tech
12. NC State
17. Notre Dame
19. Syracuse
22. Louisville
27. Duke
29. UNC
30. FSU

The Wolfpack will host #19 Syracuse on Thursday night at 7pm.

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NC State’s Week 1 Depth Chart Against UCONN (with Notes)

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NC State will kick off their 2023 Football season next Thursday night against UCONN at 7:30pm. The Wolfpack released their Depth Chart for the game today.

Image

Notes

  • Redshirt Sophomore Anthony Carter Jr. is listed as the starting Left Guard. If Redshirt Sophomore Lyndon Cooper wasn’t missing the first game due to injury, I wonder if Carter would be starting. Doeren did praise Carter in his press conference today. Also, he stated that Cooper should be back for the Notre Dame game.
  • Noticeably, Graduate Transfer Offensive Lineman Dawson Jaramillo is also missing from the Depth Chart. Unfortunately, Jaramillo has suffered an injury, and will miss the entirety of the 2023 season. This is a huge blow for Jaramillo, and a huge blow for the depth of the Wolfpack Offensive Line. Jaramillo was a Swiss Army knife, having the ability to play in numerous positions.
  • Very often, Doeren has stated that the “Or” in between two names means that the coaching staff sees both players as starters. There is an “Or” in between Chris Toudle and Trent Pennix at Tight End, with the former being listed first. Maybe it doesn’t matter whose name is listed first, but I’m shocked Pennix’s name wasn’t the one at the top.
  • I’m not shocked that Julian Gray and Keyon Lesane are listed as the starters at the X and Y Wide Receiver positions. They both have had a lot of buzz surrounding them in Fall Camp, and Lesane was named a captain. Obviously, with Gray’s speed, Offensive Coordinator Robert Anae is going to want to find a way to get the ball in his hands. With that being said, and this is no disrespect to the two of them, but both of them are 5’11”, which isn’t exactly the way you would sculpt your prototypical outside receivers. I expect Terrell Timmons and Bradley Rozner to both be heavily in rotation at the X and Y, to give the outside receivers a good dose of speed as well as height.
  • True Freshman Running Back Kendrick Raphael might be buried at the bottom of the Depth Chart at his position, but I bet he sees a carry before Mimms or Jones. Doeren mentioned that we would see Raphael against UCONN, but didn’t mention Jones or Mimms. Anae likes to run 2 Running Back sets, with one of them almost functioning like a Full Back. As a result, I’m not shocked to see Jones and Mimms where they are in the Depth Chart.
  • Props to True Freshman Kevin Concepcion for earning the starting job at the Inside Wide Receiver position. Get ready to hear his name a lot this year. KC is backed up by Redshirt Sophomore Jalen Coit, who Doeren spoke highly of today.
  • Junior Porter Rooks is no longer sitting behind Thayer Thomas on the Depth Chart. Doeren said that Rooks has had a great camp. The former 4-Star prospect has an opportunity to show that those stars meant something by his name. With that being said, he will be pushed by True Freshman Javonte “Juice” Vereen, who even has national media buzzing about him heading into the season.
  • Three True Freshman are on the Offensive Depth Chart: Left Guard Kamen Smith, IWR Kevin Concepcion and FLEXY Juice Vereen.
  • True Freshman Kamal Bonner is 2nd on the Depth Chart at the Will Linebacker spot, backing up Payton Wilson. What’s noteworthy, is that he’s ahead of former 4-Star prospect Jordan Poole in the Depth Chart. Bonner must have made a heck of a first impression.
  • As expected, ODU Graduate Transfer Robert Kennedy is starting at Nickel.
  • True Freshman Brandon Cisse is backing up Aydan White at Right Corner, and Doeren said we should expect him to contribute.
  • Redshirt Sophomore Jalen Coit will be filling in the shoes of Thayer Thomas at Punt Returner.

 

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Elliot Avent is interviewed on MLB Network about rule changes and Wolfpack Alums

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Elliot Avent gave a great interview on MLB Network.

Avent talks about the rules changes in baseball and doesn’t seem too pleaseed about them, while also breaking some news that they might be naming the hitting facility after Trea Turner and the Pitching lab after Carlos Rodon.

Give it a watch.

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Mady Traore Will No Longer Enroll at NC State

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This unfortunately seemed inevitable.

According to 247Sports’ Travis Branham, 3-Star Mady Traore is no longer planning on enrolling at NC State.

Traore was a member of the Wolfpack’s 2022 recruiting class, but wasn’t able to enroll in the Fall because of Visa issues and the English Competency Test.

Back on November 29th, I posted the following article, saying that Traore was set to join the team for the 2nd semester. Traore himself told me when I posted it, that he was expecting to join the team in December.

I received the intel 2 weeks prior to posting, and prior to things beginning to brew between NC State and Isaiah Miranda. In hindsight, I wish I would have posted it when I got the intel (haha).

4-Star Mady Traore Expected to Suit up for NC State Soon

Obviously, that didn’t happen, and isn’t happening.

When I posted the article, things were in flux, because there was one scholarship available. If Miranda came, he was going to get the scholarship, and the staff was hoping Traore would be willing to wait and enroll in April. If Miranda didn’t come, then the expectation was for Traore to join the team in December, in the way that Miranda just did.

I still believe my source’s info was solid, and there are always a lot of moving pieces in play that can change scenarios quickly.

From what I hear, the staff was genuinely hopeful they could add Miranda in December, and Traore in April, but it didn’t work out that way, and that’s the way it goes sometimes.

We wish you the best Mady! You’ve got a special future in basketball.

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