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NC State Volleyball Splits a Pair of Matches at Home Invitational

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RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State volleyball team opened play in the Wolfpack-Camels Invitational with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-22) sweep against Wright State, highlighted by a season-high .377 team attacking percentage but came up short in its second match of the day suffering a five-set (25-23, 21-25, 23-25, 25-21, 9-15) loss to Utah Valley Friday evening inside Reynolds Coliseum.

Hosted in conjunction with Campbell, the Wolfpack rolled past the Wright State Raiders with its best offensive performance of the season before running into a pesky Utah Valley team that would not be denied in the nightcap. NCSU’s .377 team attacking percentage is the eighth-highest mark in the ACC this season.

Sophomore Melissa Evans tallied a match-high 18 kills versus the Raiders, which is the most by any player in the ACC in a three-set match this season. The Lone Tree, Colo., native also logged a career-best .571 attacking percentage with only two errors on 28 attempts.

NC State moves to 4-3 on the year, while Wright State is 5-2 and Utah Valley is 8-3.

Quoting Hampton-Keith

Overall thoughts…

“I thought Utah Valley was a really great defensive team,” said third-year head coach Linda Hampton-Keith. “They challenged us and continued to get better as the match went on. They went five sets last night against Campbell and five sets earlier today against Appalachian State.

“They were a different kind of team that we haven’t seen yet, and we really struggled to make the adjustments that we needed to.”

Match Rewind Versus Wright State

– NC State started strong against the Raiders, as the Wolfpack jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the first set after a kill from Jade Parchment to force a Wright State timeout.

– After the Raiders rallied to narrow the NCSU advantage to 17-15, the Pack responded with three unanswered points en route to the 25-20 win in the opening set.

– The second set was close until senior libero Makenzie Kuchmaner took over, as she served 13 consecutive rallies and NC State scored 12 consecutive points to pull away at 23-10 and went on to win the frame, 25-12.

– The Wolfpack tallied 21 kills in the second set, which is the most in any set this season, and only committed one attacking error on 30 attempts to log a .667 team attacking percentage.

– In the third set, Kuchmaner struck again as she served seven consecutive rallies and NC State erased a 3-0 deficit to take a 7-3 advantage.

– After the score was tied at 19-19, Teni Sopitan tallied a kill from the outside and followed with a block assist along with Keira Moore to give the Pack a two-point lead and NCSU closed out the set with a 25-22 win to sweep the match.

Top Performers

– Evans’ 18 kills led all players and she also contributed six digs and two blocks.

– Parchment also turned in a strong performance, as she put down 13 kills in addition to a .344 attacking percentage with only two miscues on 32 swings.

– Sopitan and Lauryn Terry each tallied seven kills.

– Senior setter Kylie Pickrell handed out 37 assists and recorded 10 digs to log her second consecutive double-double.

– Kuchmaner enjoyed one of her best outings in a Wolfpack uniform, as she collected 19 digs, nine assists and three service aces.

Match Rewind versus Utah Valley

– Trailing 17-13 in the first set, NC State went on a 7-0 run to take a 20-17 lead thanks to stellar serving from Kristen Chatman, which included a pair of aces.

– Consecutive kills from Sopitan gave the squad set point and an attacking error by UVU put NC State ahead 1-0 in the match.

– Utah Valley edged NC State down the stretch in the second to even the match at one apiece, as the Wolverines won seven of the final nine points.

– The Wolfpack fell behind 21-14 in the third set but fought back in the frame to even the frame at 23-23 after an 8-1 run.

– Unfortunately, consecutive kills from UVU’s Kristen Allred followed to close out the set.

– NC State was strong in the fourth set, recording its best team attacking percentage of the match in the frame with a .316 clip with only four errors.

– Three consecutive kills from Evans gave the Pack momentum down the stretch and NC State won it, 25-21.

– NCSU jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the decisive fifth set, but five unanswered points put Utah Valley ahead, 6-3, and NC State could not make up the difference as UVU held off any would-be rallies.

Top Performers

– Sopitan headlined the Wolfpack offense in the second match of the day with 19 kills.

– Evans also notched 18 kills in her second match of the day and logged 12 digs to chart her third career double-double performance.

– Pickrell led all players in the contest with 53 assists.

– Defensively, Kuchmaner tallied a match-high 22 digs, while Grace Irvin had 12.

Up Next

NC State will return to action Sunday afternoon when the squad welcomes the Campbell Camels to Reynolds Coliseum. First serve is slated for 2 p.m.

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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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NC State Basketball

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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