NC State Volleyball Places Program Record 5 on All-ACC Teams

GREENSBORO, N.C. – A program record five NC State volleyball players have been named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Teams, announced Monday by the league office. Julia Brown and Kylie Pickrell were tabbed to the first team, while Bree Bailey and Kaitlyn Kearney secured second team honors.

Melissa Evans garnered a spot on the All-ACC Freshmen Team.

The Wolfpack’s five all-conference selections is the most in the history of the program for a single season, topping the previous mark of three achieved on a few occasions.

Brown and Kearney collect their second All-ACC mentions, while Bailey, Evans and Pickrell garner their first. Bailey was an all-conference and all-freshmen selection at Arizona State prior to transferring to NC State.

Brown becomes the first NC State player to garner consecutive First Team All-ACC honors since Volire Tisdale accomplished the feat in 1987 and 1988. This season, the Davidson, N.C., native leads the team and is fourth in the conference in kills with 443.

She also surpassed 1,000 career kills earlier this season to become just the 11th player in program history to reach the milestone and now owns 1,337 career kills, which is the third most by an active player in the ACC.

Last year, Brown was an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Region selection in addition to being First Team All-ACC. She broke the rally-scoring era program record for career kills at Miami this season and now owns the rally-scoring era mark for kills in a single match, single season and career.

Pickrell has done an excellent job running the Wolfpack offense from her setter position, as she leads the league in total assists with 1,210, which ranks among the top 40 of the NCAA. Her play has allowed NC State’s offense to rank among the top of the ACC all season, as the Pack has the most total kills and second-most assists.

The Coppell, Texas, native broke the rally-scoring era program record in NC State’s thrilling five-set win at Florida State with 70 assists, which is the most by any player in the ACC this season and is tied for third most in the NCAA.

She tallied the program’s first triple double in the rally-scoring era with 47 assists, 19 digs and 13 kills versus Missouri State. Pickrell is one of just three players in the ACC to record a triple double this season.

Bailey has also made a smooth transition into the Wolfpack’s lineup, as she is second on the team with 321 kills. Hailing from Salt Lake City, Utah, she has been a consistent offensive force for NC State at the outside hitter position.

She has tallied double-digit kills in 19 matches this season, highlighted by matching her career high with 24 at Florida State. Bailey eclipsed 1,000 career kills at Michigan to become just the 12th player in program history to reach the mark.

For the fourth consecutive season, Kearney has led the Wolfpack in blocks, as she owns a career-best 152 this year, which ranks third in the ACC. The Frisco, Texas, native broke the program record for career blocks against UNC-Chapel Hill and now has 548 career blocks, the most by an active player in the ACC and seventh most nationally.

Kearney has been a steady offensive threat as well, as she surpassed 1,000 career kills against Miami. She is one of just four players in the NCAA with at least 1,000 career kills and 500 blocks.

NC State and top-ranked Penn State are the only two programs in the nation to have three players with at least 1,000 kills on its roster.

Pickrell, Kearney and Brown each secured ACC Player of the Week in successive weeks, as NC State is the only team in the conference to have a player garner the award in three consecutive weeks.

Despite missing more than a month of the season due to injury, Evans earned a spot on the nine-member all-freshmen team. She has logged 176 kills in her rookie campaign and has also collected 35 blocks.

The Lone Tree, Colo., native was named ACC Freshman of the Week before suffering an ankle injury at Georgia Tech in her next match. Prior to the injury, she was second on the team in kills with 161 through the first 13 matches.

Evans has tallied double figure kills on eight occasions this season, highlighted by three matches with 20 kills.

NC State was selected to compete in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012 on Sunday night and will take on Oregon State in the first round. The match is slated for a 5:30 p.m. (ET) first serve inside Gregory Gym on the University of Texas’ campus.